
Glass __i_^_!: 
Book 



CiiPmiGinr DEPostr. 






SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 



Bv JOHN T. F.\RIS 

THE RO:SL\XCE OF 
OLD PHILADELPHLA. 

Frontispiece in color and 101 illustrations in doubletone. 
Decorated cloth. Octavo. $4.50 net. 

The story Ls one of rare chann; of privation and peril 
endured and conquered by the pioneers of America; home- 
making, establishing free government, religious and social life, 
recreation, schools, church customs, tra\"el, business methods, 
bits of gossip as deUcious as that of Pepys, glints of wit and 
wisdem, every phase of domestic, business and political life. 

"A narrati\e sometimes purely romantic, sometimes epic, 
but always finely human . . . particularly inciting Americans 
to a broader patriotism." — Boston Transcript. 

OLD ROADS 
OUT OF PHILADELPmA 

117 illustrations and a map. Decorated cloth. 
Octavo. a^.OO net. 

Ten old roads radiating fan-wise out of Philadelphia, with 
the historical and legendary* associations that have grown 
around them in the course of centuries, when armies marched 
and fought over them, pioneers fared over them to the West, 
men and women of fame and worth dwelt beside them — 
these are the subject of text and picture in this beautiful 
and delightful book. 

'"It would be hard to find an\-where in America roads 
richer in historical interest . . . and John T. Faris has told the 
story of them well."' — Seic York Times. 

Bv THEODOOR De BOOY 
' and JOHN T. FARLS 

THE \TRGIX ISLANDS 

OUR XEW POSSESSIONS AND 

THE BRITISH ISLANDS 

97 illustrations and five maps especially prepared for 
this work. Octavo. $3.00 net. 
Jewels of the sea seem these islands of the West Indies to 
the reader who turns the pages of this profitable book. With- 
in its compass Ls gathered a whole new world, glowing in 
color, and rich with promise. There is every bit of knowl- 
edge the traveler, the antiquarian, the investment-seeker can 
desire, dehghtfully told and illustrated. A great future lies 
here, as a pleasure and health resort, and a center of trade. 
"A new and wonderfully entertaining book of travel . . . 
an ideal book — -would there were many more ' just as good.' " 

— Travel. 




^": 



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;'-*• 





t:: 



COPTRIGHT, I9I9, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 



OCT I3 1QI9 



PRINTED BY J, B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS 

PHILADELPHIA, tJ. S. A. 



©Cl.A5-5n27'.i 



TO 

A LOVER OF NATURE 

MY WIFE 



Let me view thee once again. 
Fair, though rugged. Land of Penn. 
Fondly now my memry cUngs 
To thy cool and limpid springs, 
Forest glades and babbling brooks, 
Sunny spots and shady nooks, 
Rocky glens and mountains green, 
Glistening in their summer sheen. 
Miles of multi-colored trees 
Bending to the autumn breeze, 
Mountain ridges wreathed in snow 
With the sunshine all aglow. 
Till my spirit breaks control 
And stirs the longings of my soul. 
Land that soothed the savage breast — 
Bent its will to love's behest. 
Trusting in the powers above. 
Preaching peace and (iod is love. 
Land where monarch power was shorn. 
Land where Liberty was born. 

— William Bauchop Wilson. 



PREFACE 

It seems strange that the wonderful scenic features 
of Pennsylvania, like its remarkable historic interests, 
have received so little attention from those who 
write of the beautiful world and of the things that 
happen in it. Apart from a few well-known scenes, 
like the Horseshoe Curve, the Delaware Water Gap, 
and the lake at Eaglesmere, comparatively little is 
known of the revelations in store for the traveler 
who goes up and down and to and fro in the state. 
Just so most of those whose theme is the picturesque 
or the remarkable in local history have passed by 
the state in their search for subjects, with the ex- 
ception, of course, of some outstanding events with 
which nearly everybody is familiar. An examina- 
tion of the files of the magazines for many years 
past, as well as the more recent numbers of the travel 
periodicals and the journals devoted to history, 
shows that Pennsylvania has not yet come into its 
own; for some reason greater recognition is given to 
other sections of the country, including states near 
by. These states are altogether worthy of the at- 
tention paid to them. But why is so little said of 
Pennsylvania? 

Many even of those who live In the state have 
scant idea of the wonders there are off the beaten 
track of travel, and of the riches of historic lore 
waiting to be uncovered. In the spirit of the traveler 
who longs to share with someone else a new beauty 
he has found, or of the reader who Is not content 
until he has asked a friend to enjoy with him a treas- 
ure discovered In a book, the author of "Seeing 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

failing courtesy of Mr. Ernest H. SpofFord, the 
assistant librarian. 

The author's grateful acknowledgments are due to 
Henry van Dyke, Hamlin Garland, Bliss Carman, and 
to George H. Doran & Co., publishers for Joyce 
Kilmer, who gave his life in France in July, 1918, for 
hearty permission to use poems quoted in this volume; 
also to Katherine Mayo, author of "The Standard 
Bearers," and to Houghton, Mifflin & Co., for permis- 
sion to tell the story of "John G," as well as for addi- 
tional facts supplied by her. 

Special mention should be made of the delightful 
books by Mr. Henry W. Shoemaker, who has written 
so appreciatively of his native central Pennsylvania 
highlands. Quotations have been made from these 
in many instances; again they have furnished inspi- 
ration for paragraphs that may perhaps give more 
than a surface hint of the original source. This is 
true also of some of the local histories consulted. 
Whenever it has been possible to tell of indebtedness, 
this has been done. 

Generous assistance in securing photographs and 
information has been given by Mr. George H. Biles 
and Mr. George G. Hatter of the State Highway De- 
partment; by Mr. Robert S. Conklin and Mr. George 
H. Wirt of the State Department of Forestry; by 
Mr. Guy E. Mitchell of the United States Geological 
Survey; by Mrs. Julia Mifflin Donnelly of the State 
Museum at Ilarrisburg; by Rev. William F. Klein of 
Reading, and by many others whose courteous inter- 
est and cooperation have made a pleasant task yet 
more pleasant. 

John T. Faris 

Philadelphia, August, 1911) 

e 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

PREFACE 3 

LOOK AT THE MAP! U 

ROUTE I ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 22 

FROM PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

ROUTE II BY THE NATIONAL ROAD 77 

FROM PHILADELPHIA TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

ROUTE III FROM PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH, .... 124 

BY WAT OF READING, HARRISBURG AND THE WILLIAM 
PENN HIGHWAY 

ROUTE IV THROUGH THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS. IGG 

FROM HARRISBURG TO CLEAN AND ELMIRA, NEW 
YORK, AND BACK TO HARRISBUHG, BY WAY OF 
WILKE9-BARRE 

ROUTE V ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 212 

THE ANTHRACITE COUNTRY AND THE POCONO PLATEAU 

ROUTE VI FROM PITTSBURGH TO LAKE ERIE AND 

BACK 268 

ROUTE VII THROUGH THE OIL REGION AND SKIRTINC; 

THE FOREST COUNTRY 2S7 

A ROUND TRIP FROM PITTSBURGH 

ROUTE VIH THROUGH THE HEART OF THE BLACK 

FOREST 1.-55 

A ROUND TRIP TO THE NORTH OF ALTOONA 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 33G 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Page 
September Sunshine, near Reading Frontisjricce 

From the Painting by Edward Stratton HoUoway 

On Belmont Plateau, Fairmount Park. Schuylkill River and 

Business Section of Philadelphia in distance 24 

Photo by Bell & Fischer 

Valley Green Bridge, Wissahickon Drive 24 

Photo by J. Horace McFarlaud Company 

On the Wissahickon 25 

Photo by Frank Sjostrom 

In Valley Forge Park 28 

Photo from Philadelphia & Reading Railroad 

A Lancaster County Landscape, near Gap 29 

Photo by Miss L. A. Sampsou 

Ice Cakes on the Shore at McCall's Ferry, Susquehanna River 29 

Photo by Uiiited States Geological Survey 

Looking up the Susquehanna River toward Pennsylvania, from 

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Bridge, Perryville, Maryland. 50 

Photo by Uuited States Geological Survey 

A Pennsylvania Sugar Maple Tree 51 

Photo by State Departmeut of Forestry 

View from Little Round Top, Gettysburg Battlefield. (Warren 
Statue on Rock). 51 

Photo from Philadelphia' & Reading Railroad 

Monument on the site of the birthplace of President James 

Buchanan, Fulton County C4 

Photo by Lloyd M. Smith 

Webster Mills Bridge, Fulton County 04 

Photo by State Highway Departmeut 

Along the Raystown Juniata, near Everett 65 

Photo by Lloyd M. Smith 

Buttermilk Falls, Ligonier 72 

Photo by W. T. Brown 

Suspension Bridge on Four Mile Run, near Ligonier 72 

Photo by W. T. Brown 

Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, Pittsburgh, from 

South Side 73 

Photo by John C. Bragdon 

In the Heart of Philadelphia, from Rittenhouse Square 78 

Photo by BeU & Fischer 

Sycamore Mills, near Media 79 

Photo by J. E. Grecu 

9 



10 ILLUSTRATIONS 

On Ridley Creek at Irving's Mills, Chester 79 

Photo by J. E. Green 

Stone Bridge crossing the Cocauco, near Ephrata. (Built in 

1800) 86 

Photo from Philadelphia & Reading Railroad 

Along Swatara Creek 87 

Photo by J. Horace McFarland Company 

Susquehanna River at Harrisburg f)(! 

Photo by State Department of Forestry 

A Peep into the Valley, Cumberland County !)(> 

Photo by State Department of Forestry 
The only Stone Tollhouse on the National Highway still 

standing in l^NNSYLVANIA, AT AdDISON 97 

Photo by Stale Highway Department 

Old Viaduct across Toms Creek on Tapeworm Railroad 97 

Photo by Slate Department of Forestry 

The Great Meadows, with Fort Necessity outlined in Center 100 
Photo by James Hudden 

Washington's Mill, owned by Washington at the time of his 

Death, Built 1770. (Still standing, twelve miij':s north 

OF Uniontown) 106 

Photo supplied by Dr. F. C. Robinson 

Turkey's Nest Bridge, Fayette County 107 

Photo supphed by Robert Bruce 
In Washington County 107 

Photo by State Highway Department 

Waterfall on Ravine Tributary to Meigs Creek, Washington 

County 120 

Photo by State Highway Department 

Over the Greene County Hills 120 

Photo by Stale Highway Department 

In Jenkintown 1:24 

Photo from Philudelpliia &; Reading Railroad 

On the Perkiomen at Collegevilu: 1£5 

Photo from Philadelphia & Reading Railroad 

Valley Creek, near Valley Forge i;?0 

Photo by Miss L. A. Sampson 

On the Road to Valley Forge 1.'50 

Photo by Miss L. A. Sampson 

The Golf Club at Wernersville l.'H 

Photo by J. Horace McFarland Company 

Old Cornwall Furnace 131 

Photo from Philadelphia & Reading Railroad 

Near Rutherford 134 

Photo by J. Horace McFarland Company 
Rockville Bridge over the Susquehanna, near Harrisburg 134 

Photo by J. Horace McFarland Company 



ILLUSTRATIONS 11 

The Ravine, Co^^e Forge, near the Mouth of the Junlata .... 135 

Photo by J. Horace McFartand Company 

The Road to Mifflintown 140 

Photo by State Highway Department 

Along the Juniata 140 

Photo by Slate Highway Department 

Jack's Narrows, from Moi xt Union Bridge 141 

Photo by State Department of Forestry 

Juniata River, Mifflin County 141 

Photo by State Department of Forestry 

.:\rch Spring, near Birmingham 148 

Photo supplied by Dr. Alvin R. Grier, Birmingham School 

Old Stone Arch, Plane Number Ten, Portage Railroad, near 

Duncansville 148 

Photo by Stouffer 

Stone Sijiiepers, Fourteen Mile Level, Old Portage Raiilroad 
Looking toward Mineral Point 149 

Photo by Stouffer 

At Saltsburg on the Kiskiminetas 149 

Photo supplied by Dr. A. W. Wibon, Kiskiminetas School 

In the Hemlock Forest 192 

Photo by State Department of I'^orestf • 

Valley View toward Tivoli 192 

Photo by J. Horace McFarland Company 

Ruins of Ole Bull's Castle, Oleona 19.'} 

Photo by State Department of Forestry 

Asaph Nursery 193 

Photo by State Department of Forestry 

Lumbering in Potter County ] 98 

Photo supplied by Boyd S. Rothrock, Curator Pennsylvania Slate Museum 

The Chemung River, near Athens 199 

Photo from Lehigh Valley Railroad 

Homet's Ferry, near Wyalusing 204 

Photo from Lehigh Valley Railroad 

On the Susquehanna, West of Falls 20.5 

Photo from Lehigh Valley Railroad 

On the Way to EaglEvSmere, Columbia County 210 

Photo by J. Horace McFarland Conipauy 

On the Susquehanna, near Danville 211 

Photo copyrighted by Detroit Publishing Co. 

Looking toward Mount Penn, Reading 214 

Photo by Slate Department of Forestry 

Near Berne, Berks County 215 

Photo from Philadelphia & Reading Railroad 

A Bend in the Schuylkill River 218 

Photo from Philadelphia & Readin;,' Railroad 

Near Pottsville 218 

Photo from Philadelphia & Reading Ruilroad 



12 ILLUSTRATIONS 

Along the Schuylkill Canal 219 

Photo from Philadelphia & Reading Railroad 

RiNGTOWN, FROM ShENANDOAH MOUNTAIN 226 

Photo from Philadelphia & Reading Railroad 

Mountain Stream above Buck Hill Falls 227 

Photo from Lehigh Valley Railroad 

Within Delaware Water Gap, Looking from the right bank 232 

Photo by the Kirkton Studios 

Delaware Water Gap from the Southeast (Delaware River 
near Manunka Chunk in the foreground) 233 

Photo by United States Geological Survey 

Looking up the River, Delaware Water Gap 236 

Sugar Maple Avenue on State Road, near Echo Lake 236 

Photo by State Department of Forestry 

Peck's Dam, Pike County 237 

Photo by Stale Department of Forestry 

Falls on Dingman's Creek in Childs' Park 237 

Photo by State Highway Department 

Valley View North of Honesdale 244 

Photo by State Highway Department 

Abingdon Hills, Lackawanna County 245 

Photo by Horgan 

Near Montrose 248 

Photo by Horgan 

Nicholson Viaduct, Wyoming County 249 

Photo by State Highway Department 

Salt Lick on Wharton Creek, Lackawanna County 249 

Photo by State Highway Department 

Horseshoe Curve, Nay Aug Valley 250 

Photo by Horgan 

Wilkes-Barre Colliery, Pittston 251 

Photo from Lehigh Valley Railroad Company 

Glen Summit Springs 252 

Photo from Lehigh Valley Railroad Company 

View from Flagstaff Mountain, Mauck Chunk 253 

Photo from Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company 

Glen Onoko 256 

Photo from Lehigh Valley Railroad Company 

Along the Lehigh, near Allentown 257 

Photo by The Kirkton Studios 

Delaware River and Canal 262 

Photo from Philadelphia & Reading Railroad 

Delaware River, near Easton 263 

Photo from Philadelphia & Reading Railroad 

Six Miles East of Doylestown 266 

Photo by the Clay Studio 

Neshaminy Falls 266 

Photo from Philadelphia & Reading Railroad 



ILLUSTRATIONS 13 

Beaver 274 

Photo by John C. Bragdon 

Jordan Run, Erie County 275 

Photo by State Department of Forestry 

Penetration Road in Mercer County 275 

Photo by State Highway Department 

On the Road in Crawford County 276 

Photo by State Highway Department 

After a FREsnET in Lawrence County 276 

Photo by State Highway Department 

Over the Hills and Far Away 277 

Photo by J. Horace McFarland Company 

In the Ravine, near Pittsburgh 277 

Photo by State Highway Department 

On the Shenango, near Greenville 286 

Photo by State Highway Department 

The Conoquonessing, near Frisco, Beaver County 287 

Photo copyrighted by Detroit Publishing Company 

In Venango County 290 

Photo by State Highway Department 

Unloading Logs for the Mill, Forest County 290 

Photo by State Department of Forestry 

Little Brokenstraw Creek, Warren County 291 

Photo by State Highway Department 

Allegheny River, Warren 291 

Photo by State Department of Forestry 

The Start of a Forest Fire 298 

Photo by State Department of Forestry 

Pine Rocks, between Beech Creek and Renovo 298 

Photo by State Department of Forestry 

Two Miles Southeast of Clearfield 299 

Photo by C. W. Howard 

On the Road from Tionesta to Clarion 304 

Photo by State.Department of Forestry 

On the Plateau between Clearfield and Penfield 305 

Photo by State Department of Forestry 

Gap in Bald Eagle Mountain, looking north from Bellefonte 316 

Photo by the Mallory Studio 

Where Clearfield Gets Her Drinking Wateij. (Montgomery 

Dam, five miles up on the Mountain) 317 

Photo by C. W. Howard 

Highway Bridge across Elk Creek, near Ridgway 320 

Photo by State Highway Department 

Old Highway Bridge, near Bradford 320 

Photo by State Highway Department 

First Fork of Sinnemahoning, near Costello 321 

Photo by State Department of Forestry 

Beech Creek, Clinton County 328 

Photo by State Department of Forestry 



14 ILLUSTRATIONS 

On the Black Moshannon, Center Countt 328 

Pholo by State Department of Forestry 

On the Road to Brush Valley Narrows, Center County 329 

Photo by Stiite Highway Department 
Penn Valley, looking toward Boalsburg 329 

Photo by State Department of Forestry 

Along the Juniata, Huntingdon County 332 

Photo from Birmingham School 

MAPS 

Reuef Map of Pennsylvania 16 

Map of Routes Suggested in this Volume End 

Tlic Cover Design is a view of the Allegheny Piiver from 
Kinzua Hill, Warren County. 




SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

LOOK AT THE MAP! 

NCE upon a time there was a successful 
teacher in the South who won local fame 
because he taught geography without maps. 
He did this because maps were scarce and money 
with which to buy them was even scarcer. He was 
quite successful, too. But he would have been the 
first to own that success would have been far greater 
if he had been able to place maps in the hands of 
his pupils. 

Now it is still possible to learn something of geog- 
raphy without map study. But when maps are so 
cheap and so good, why make the attempt? To be 
sure, there are some maps which can have little inter- 
est for those who are not making a specialty of work 
in geography, and it may not be such a loss to pass 
these by. There are maps, however, that are as inter- 
esting as a romance, and it is a pity to deprive one- 
self of the pleasure of reading these. 

For instance, there is the map of Pennsylvania, 
one of the most eloquent of maps. It has a delightful 
message for Americans, not only because Pennsylvania 
has had a wonderful part in the history of the nation 
(think of the Declaration of Independence, of Valley 
Forge, of Washington's crossing of the Delaware, 
of Gettysburg, the decisive battle of the Civil War, 
and of scores of other events of national significance), 
but also because it carries on its face the heartiest 

15 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

sort of invitation to explore majestic mountains, 
fascinating river valleys, and deep, dark forests where 
once the Indian hunted the buffalo and the elk. 

Two maps are needed. One of these should present 
clearly the counties, the rivers, the highways, and the 
railways. It is good to refer to such a map now and 
then, but it is far better to make it a daily companion, 
a familiar friend — to take it from the pocket when 
reading the newspaper, or to keep it before the 
eye for study in connection with the railway time- 
table or the automobile route-book. One reason 
sight-seeing from the railway train becomes weari- 
some is because the traveler seldom has a map at 
hand which tells of the region through which the 
road leads; or, at best, he has nothing but the dis- 
torted, unreliable map in the time-table, which is 
content to show the particular railroad in use at the 
moment as the shortest line between two points. 
But what a difference when there is at hand a folding 
map such as can be bought readily for twenty-five 
cents ! 

The best way to convince the reader of the attrac- 
tiveness and suggestiveness of the map of Pennsyl- 
vania is to show it right here, that those who see it 
may revel in what J. P. Lesley has called its "sym- 
metrical, compound, and complicated curves." In 
the boundaries of the state there is just enough 
departure from the straight line to show the truth of 
the words quoted. There is, for instance, the Circle 
Line at the southeast corner, which forms the northern 
boundary of Delaware. There is a story behind that 
circle. Then one notes the Triangle in the northwest 
corner. Another story! We look at the southwest 
corner, and wonder why there was not at this point 

IG 



5-2! 




5 3?/^. 

* T i. ^ 



LOOK AT THE MAP 

a third departure from the rectilinear, so as to include 
West Virginia's famous Panhandle and reach out to 
the Ohio River, which would seem the natural 
boundary. Story number three! 

The eye is attracted by the sweeping curves and 
sharp turns of the Delaware River, which forms the 
eastern boundary, and the observer is startled to 
note the almost exact correspondence of the North 
Branch of the Susquehanna River in its course from 
the northern line of the state to Northumberland, 
where it helps to form the main Susquehanna; and 
the further fact that the two rivers, though close 
together in the north, keep far apart across the state, 
while they are once more within a few miles of each 
other when they cross the southern boundary. 

For the explanation of this striking parallel indirec- 
tion of flow it is necessary only to study the relief 
map of Pennsylvania, with its story of the Susque- 
hanna's search for a passage through the mountains 
that again and again bar its passage to the sea. This 
map also should be a companion during the study 
of a state that can equal or surpass the best scenery 
in England, in Ireland, in Scotland, or in France, 
with many added beauties to which nothing in those 
countries can be compared. 

The relief map shows further that the only navi- 
gable streams in the state are in western Pennsyl- 
vania; that the railway engineers faced most diflBcult 
problems as they sought passage from the east to the 
west; and that three-fourths of the surface is highland 
territory of such attractive contour that it is no 
wonder the Indians from the North made it their 
vacation ground, as so many of those who have dis- 
placed them are taking vacations there to-day. The 
2 17 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

attraction which the valleys of the Delaware and the 
Susquehanna had for the native American is appre- 
ciated by Agnes Repplier; she says that if ever 
Americans — blotted out in their turn, as they have 
blotted out the Red men — are destined to live on 
reservations as the Indians live now, "may Penn- 
sylvania be the allotted territory!" 

Another glance at the relief map shows that 
Pennsylvania is divided naturally into three parts. 
There is the southeastern district of valleys and hills; 
a central mountain belt of symmetrical sweep whose 
parallel ranges enclose numberless narrow valleys; 
and a rolling table land which becomes a plain as it 
approaches Lake Erie. The combination of these 
three sections presents, as one scientist has pointed 
out, a variety hardly equaled in any other state. 

The mountain region has, ready to disclose to the 
sympathetic traveler, a series of surprises that will 
keep his gaze transfixed, all the way from Somerset 
County in the southwest to the border of Wayne 
County in the northeast. The rocky, tree-covered 
mountains are, in general, about two thousand feet 
high, though many ridges are higher. They extend 
for 270 miles, if they are followed along their sinuous 
course. For one hundred and fifty miles the traveler 
is within their portals if he seeks to cross them by the 
Pennsylvania Railroad. Yet the thirteen principal 
ridges which traverse the state might be crossed in 
less than' fifty miles from Tyrone to Carlisle — that is, 
if there were a road that way. But the traveler must 
follow the example of the Indian and the engineer, 
and choose a path that leads through one of the 
marvelous water gaps, as, for instance, the Delaware 
Gap, or that in Sharp Mountain, or through Blue 
18 



LOOK AT THE MAP 

Mountain, or through Jack's Mountain; or he may 
go by one of the less pronounced wind gaps to and 
from which so many routes of travel converge. 

However the mountains may forbid passage in 
some directions, they invite it in others. The ravines 
made by the North Branch, the Muncy Creek, the 
Lycoming, Pine Creek, the West Branch, and Beech 
Creek, are used both by railways and by highways, 
and this is one explanation of the attraction of travel 
in Pennsylvania. Such passages, it has been said, 
"offer the only avenues of connection with the 
northwest part of the state and between central 
Pennsylvania and New York state." 

Still other river valleys present unrivaled opportu- 
nities for studying the state — the Delaware, the 
Schuylkill, the Lehigh, the Youghiogheny, the 
Juniata, the Conemaugh, the Allegheny. Who fol- 
lows these streams with eyes open has presented to 
him a series of pictures of such rare beauty that he 
would not find it difficult to enter into the feelings of 
the nature-lover who declared that, if he knew he 
must soon lose his sight, he would not ask better 
preparation for the days of darkness than a series of 
tours through the valleys and mountains, the fields 
and forests of Pennsylvania. 

It is remarkable that territory so broken by 
mountains is so well covered by transportation routes. 
There are, indeed, large tracts in the bituminous coal 
regions where railroads have not yet been built, as 
there are still entire townships and even large sec- 
tions of counties through which there are no roads 
fit for the traveler. Yet it is possible to indicate a 
series of eight routes that enter or traverse every 
county in a state which is, in the words of an enthu- 

19 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

siastic traveler, "so wildly and nobly beautiful that 
in Europe it would attract the tourists of the world." 

Even the names of the towns and streams encoun- 
tered in taking these attractive tours through the 
state awaken interest. Canoe Camp, Snow Shoe, 
Warrior's Mark, Standing Stone, Cornplantcr, Young 
Woman's Creek, Elk City, Pitch Pine, Buffalo Creek 
— each of these has a story to tell to sympathetic 
ears. The names of the counties repay study; they 
tell of settlers who remembered England and Wales, 
of the Indian tribes who held on to the country until 
they could hold on no longer, of Revolutionary 
leaders and early statesmen who helped to win the 
state for later generations or strengthened the hands 
of those who sought to preserve the boon of liberty. 

Then note the music of the names of some of the 
streams. There is the Shenango, the Conoquenessing, 
the Moshannon ; the Wallenpaupack, the Swatara, and 
the Conococheague (pronounce it!); the Octorara, 
the Conestoga, and the Sinnemahoning; the Kiski- 
minetas, the Pequea, and the Nescopeck. And they 
are all as attractive as their names! 

Some of the romantic tales connected with these 
localities are well known; the stories of Bethlehem 
and the Moravians, and of Harmony and Economy 
and their peculiar people may be familiar friends, yet 
a reference to them in connection with these towns 
and cities is not unwelcome. But comparatively few 
remember about Prince Demetrius Gallitzin's town 
in Cambria County and Horace Greeley's colony in 
Pike County, or know of Ole Bull's tragic experiences 
in the wilds of Potter County, of the settlement of 
the French refugees at Asylum in Bradford County, 
of the dream of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his 

20 



LOOK AT THE MAP 

friends to found a community with wonderful laws 
somewhere on the banks of the Susquehanna, or of 
the way Williamson the colonist cut a road through 
the wilds of central Pennsylvania that he might 
reach the site of his settlement farther north. 

The trips outlined in later chapters will lead to 
points made famous by these and other events, and 
will show the road to some of the marvels of Penn- 
sylvania, all the way from the Delaware Water Gap 
to the forks of the Ohio, from Kinzua Viaduct to 
Great Meadows, from the Brandy wine to the Yougli- 
iogheny, from Milford ou the Delaware to Presque 
Isle on Lake Erie. 



ROUTE I 
ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

FROM PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 
296 MILES 

WHO has not heard of Philadelphia? And to 
whom should not this preeminent city be 
known?" 

This sentiment of an early visitor from Europe 
has been echoed by millions since the words were 
written in 1788. 

"That pleasant city, Philadelphia," wrote another 
visitor who debated whether to wonder more at the 
checker-board plan of the city of Penn or at its su- 
perb seat between the two rivers and the wonderful 
country tributary to it. Those who have followed 
him in more modern days have felt that the charac- 
terization was as apt as it was brief. 

The best possible preparation for a trip along the 
Lincoln Highway from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh 
will be found in a few days spent in a survey of 
Philadelphia. In this survey the first step may well 
be an ascent to the foot of the statue of William 
Penn. This rises above the City Hall to a height of 
549' feet— but six feet less than the Washington 
monument. From the circular balcony it is possible 
to see on a clear day a rare panorama. To the east 
and south, beyond Camden, lie the rolling lands of 
New Jersey. To the southwest is the Delaware, 
ever widening as it reaches out toward the sea. Great 
ships float on the tide-swollen stream, and shipyards 
—among them the greatest establishment of the kind 

22 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

in the world — tell of other ships that soon will be 
ready to take the water. Across the romantic Schuyl- 
kill, and for miles beyond the teeming wards of West 
Philadelphia, lie, like a bit of rural England, the 
suburban districts of Philadelphia and the rich farm- 
lands of Chester County. The completion of the 
circle brings into view the northwestward sweep of 
the Schuylkill, with Fairmount Park near at hand, 
while in the far distance glorious Valley Forge appears 
on the left bank, and x\udubon's Perkiomen Creek 
meanders among the hills on the right. Then Chest- 
nut Hill, Germantown, and Jenkintown lie at the 
portals of the glories of Montgomery County, where 
Washington and Lafayette led the heroes of the 
Revolution along roads consecrated by their steps, 
all the way from Coryell's Ferry to the Neshaminy, 
and from W^hitemarsh on to Valley Forge. 

Next, perhaps, will come a pilgrimage to the 
shrines of a city that belongs in a peculiar sense to 
all America; in fact to all the world that loves democ- 
racy — shrines so identified with those heroic days 
from Penn to Washington that their history means 
more than their architecture. Their glory, in the 
words of John Ruskin, is "in that deep sense of 
voicefulness, of stern watching, of mysterious sym- 
pathy, nay, even of approval or condemnation, which 
we feel in walls that have long been washed by the 
passing waves of humanity." 

Rambles about the streets between the rivers will 
give an appetite for a day on the Delaware. First 
should come a steamer trip to the north, past Cramp's 
famous shipyard, and by Torresdale's pleasing shore 
— along that portion of the stream where John Fitch 
in 1787 made regular trips with the first successful 

23 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

steamboat. Then let there be a ride to the south, 
past League Island Navy Yard and Hog Island 
Shipbuilding Plant, whose erection was one of the 
wonders of a world accustomed to marvels; then on 
past Chester, where William Penn's ship Welcome 
sought the land. 

The inviting reaches of the Schuylkill are best 
seen during a ride through Fairmount Park, whose 
thousands of acres abound in forest and meadow, in 
crag and glen, in beckoning pathway and roads that 
urge the wayfarer to seek new delights. In Fairmount 
it is always difficult to realize that one is in the play- 
ground of a great city; at every turn there is the 
feeling that the noise of the multitude is far away — 
until perhaps the noble vista from George's Hill 
opens out, or the slopes of Belmont Mansion or 
Lemon Hill disclose the gleaming Schuylkill and the 
city beyond. No wonder Richard Peters and John 
Penn, Samuel Breck and John McPherson, David 
Rittenhouse and Robert Morris gleefully turned from 
their labors in the city to their country homes on 
these hills, where they spent their hours of leisure in 
houses that are to-day among the treasures of 
Fairmount. 

The glimpses of the river from the heights give a 
foretaste of what is in store for those who motor — or, 
better, walk — along the famous East River Drive 
and the enticing West Drive up to the spot where 
the remarkable Wissahickon enters the Schuylkill. 
Instead, however, of ascending the lower portion of 
this stream by the road that leads along the left bank, 
it is wise to go to Chestnut Hill and there take the 
street that ends in the leafy road whose abrupt descent 
shows the way to the dark upper glen through which 

24 







. rr J 






ON THE WISSAIIICKOX 
Pliofn hy Frank Sjostidiu 




ON BELMONT PLATEAU, FAIRMOT'XT PARK 

Sohiivlkill River :inrl Business Seetion of Philadelphia in Distanee 
Plioti. bv Bell & Fischer 




\ALLi.'» latLK.N liUlDl.i:, W ISSAIIICKON DKlXt: 
I'hotd bv .1. Horaee MeFarland (■oni!);iii.v 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

the Wissahickon seeks the Schuylkill. Here, indeed, 
it seems impossible to credit the fact that the heart 
of bustling Philadelphia is only a few miles distant. 
Not a sound breaks the stillness but the gurgle of the 
rapidly descending water over the stones, or the voice 
of the birds in the trees whose branches arch the 
pathway. The steep ridge on either side of the 
stream is tree-clad to the summit. Now and again 
the ridges are broken by a gap, and through the 
little valley a tributary trickles into the waters of the 
creek by which mysterious hermits lived and daring 
patriots stole upon their enemies. Along this leafy 
path motors do not interfere with the pleasure of 
the pedestrian; those who use a machine must rest 
content with the ride along the lower miles of the 
Wissahickon's course — miles where is beauty abound- 
ing, though the beauty there is as nothing compared 
to that to be enjoyed by those who are willing to take 
a slower method of travel through what tourists who 
know their Europe say excels anything enthusiastic 
guides can show. 

The ten miles by Wissahickon's side are ten miles 
of marvel and surprise. Every turn — and the glen is 
a succession of unexpected turns — discloses fresh 
charms: ledges that jut into the stream, trees that 
bend over the waters, shadows in the depths that 
repeat the beauties of the heights, bridges of varied 
design, from the great Walnut Lane viaduct to the 
stone arch at Valley Green, falls and cascades and 
pools that add glory to a prospect already so glorious 
that the observer holds his breath in wonder. 

The only diflSculty is that to see this crowning 
beauty of Fairmount is to long to see it again and 
yet again. But let it be seen ever so often, it cannot 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

disappoint. And the visit may be paid at any hour, 
with results that add to cherished memories. The 
dewy morning, when the trees drop with moisture 
even while the sun shines serenely, seems to be the 
best time for the walk; until it is taken at noonday 
when the sun pierces the overshadowing trees, or in 
the late afternoon, when there is the gloom of twi- 
light long before the sun sets, or during the full of 
the moon, when the soft lights and the deepened 
shadows give an air of mystery to a spot that could 
tell such strange tales of romance and adventure. 

From out the glen a pleasing route leads across 
the Schuylkill, past Memorial Hall, memento of the 
Centennial Exposition, to Fifty-second Street, and 
then along a forgotten section of the Gulph road on 
which — almost within the city limits — are the ruins 
of one of the paper mills of colonial days and, by 
its side, a ford across the stream which supplied 
power to the mill. The way beyond the ford is up 
hill and down, and is, for a space, almost as primitive 
as it was in the days when Philadelphia was a colony. 
Soon, however, the better road is reached that leads 
through one after another of the garden-like suburbs 
until there appears what some appreciative travel- 
ers have called the "panorama road," because of 
the view afforded of the wide and varied stretch 
of country toward the Schuylkill and Norristown 
beyond. 

There is little opportunity to regret the passage 
of the panorama, for almost at once the way leads 
to the boulder bearing the plate that tells of the 
passage of Washington and his little army to Valley 
Forge, then past Gulph Rock which stretches pro- 
tectingly above the traveler to-day as it did at the 

26 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

time of the army's march — though it is true that one 
soldier wrote of this very rock as though it spoke of 
menace instead of protection. 

After a few miles of travel through a charming 
countryside Valley Forge Park is spread out, with 
its miles of driveways along the old entrenchments, 
traces of which can still be seen, its many memorials 
erected by a grateful country, and its heights from 
which Valley Creek and the Schuylkill delight 
the eye. 

Valley Forge Park is some distance to the north of 
the Lincoln Highway, but the Lancaster Pike may be 
reached at Paoli by a short ride over a pleasing road. 
Then come many miles of what was the first turnpike 
road in America, successor to the old Lancaster 
road, and the still earlier Conestoga road, whose 
beginning dates back to 1683. Every little while 
something speaks of the days of the wagoner and 
the stage driver — the milestones, restored to the 
places where they greeted the weary travelers of 
long ago, the taverns where entertainment was pro- 
vided for man and beast, the hills (some of them 
steep enough to-day) whose slopes must have been a 
trial to the driver of the wagon laden with goods 
from Pittsburgh or the emigrant who toiled on foot 
toward the West that promised to make life worth 
while. 

Warren Hill, beyond Malvern, leads into the 
Great Valley, one of the noteworthy landscapes of 
Chester County, and one of the most attractive 
features of a state presenting a long succession of 
views that reveal the futility of adjectives to describe 
and define. The valley is from two to three miles 
wide, and it crosses a section of the county from 

27 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

southeast to northwest. It is bounded by parallel 
hills whose slopes, now cultivated, now wooded, are a 
fitting frame to a region filled with tilled fields and 
luxuriant groves. This valley, with its encircling 
rim of hills, its villages and farm buildings, and its 
general air of prosperity, presents one of the most 
satisfying pictures to be seen in this or any land. 

It is not difficult to understand how the residents 
of Downingtown in early days were so contented with 
this peaceful valley and their homes on the east 
branch of the historic Brandywine that they would 
not have the county seat, when this was to be moved 
from Chester, and other settlements were clamoring 
for what, perhaps, the Downingtowners might have 
had for the asking. No one in the town would sell 
a lot for the courthouse, and the seat of Chester 
County passed on to West Chester. 

The rich lands of the county — which originally 
included Delaware County — were bought from the 
Indians in 1685. The red men, who had all confidence 
in William Penn, agreed to let him have the lands 
from Duck Creek to Chester Creek, "backwards as 
far as a man can ride in two days with a horse." The 
moderate territory later claimed under the terms of 
this loose agreement compares favorably with later 
purchases elsewhere, when similar indefinite pro- 
visions were made. 

The historic two days' ride which fixed the west- 
ern boundary of Chester County led past one 
more stream, the west branch of the Brandywine. 
Though the road crosses this creek at Coatesville, 
six miles from Downingtown and the crossing of the 
east branch, the two streams are but half a mile apart 
at their source in the Welsh Mountains, a few miles 

28 




A LANt'A.STKii. tOUN'l'i LA.NDSCAPK, NEAK liAP 
Photo by Miss 1. A, Saiiii>s<in 




K'lO CAKKS ()\ TIIK SHOKK AT MC(AI-l"s FKKKV, SUSQUEHANNA RIVEFl 

I'hiito Ijy Uiiitcl St;iti-s { ;onlo«;ic;il Survey 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

north of Coatesvillc. The two creeks continue to be 
widely separated through their winding and attrac- 
tive courses, until they meet at Chadd's Ford, near 
the site of the battle of the Brandywine, one of the 
noteworthy struggles of the Revolution. 

Coatesville-on-the-Brandywine has for more than 
a century been famous for its iron and steel mills. It 
also clams distinction as the birthplace of Thomas 
Buchanan Read, the poet whose '"Sheridan's Ride" 
has been spoken by schoolboys for half a century 
(though, as a. matter of fact, the birthplace is located 
between Downingtowai and Coatesville, at a point 
several miles north of the Lancaster road). Further- 
more, Coatesville rejoices in surroundings so pleasant 
that one of its citizens is said to have remarked, in a 
spirit of utter satisfaction with his lot, "In the world 
to come, if Providence can give me a place as com- 
fortable as Coatesville, I shall be content." 

This steel town on the Brandywine has a setting 
that is a delight. It is partly in the valley of the 
stream, which is seen to advantage from either the 
highway bridge or the railway bridge, and it rises on 
the ridge that reaches away toward South Mountain. 
In the region south of the town Rokeby Furnace 
was built in 1703, the first rolling mill in America. 
The founder was the grandfather of A. F. Huston, 
whose great steel mills are to-day a dominating fea- 
ture in the Coatesville landscape. 

The glorious Chester Valley ends at Gap, where 
there is a natural portal through Mine Hill. On 
either side of the gap the hills rise some seven hun- 
dred feet. The tourist who looks back into the 
Chester Valley, then forward into the valley of 
Pequea Creek, will not find it difficult to understand 

29 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

why this is the central section of what was once 
known as the "Granary of America" — Chester, 
Lancaster, and York counties. 

William Penn's interest in this country brought 
him this way more than once, and there is a witness 
to his presence on the roof of the frame structure 
that protects the William Penn Spring. The inscrip- 
tion records the fact and the date of one of his visits. 
No record is kept, however, of the presence in this 
region of the band of counterfeiters and outlaws 
known as the Gap Gang, who, in early days, terror- 
ized the community as well as the adventurous trav- 
elers who sought the western country. 

William Penn was not the only notable of colonial 
days w^ho made his way from Philadelphia to the 
Gap. James Logan of Stenton once formed a com- 
pany to work the Gap copper mine, two miles from 
the railway station. This w\as discovered in 1720, 
and was later developed during nearly a century 
and a half. It was a spring that led to the discovery 
of the vein, and at this spring the settlers marveled, 
because, as several of them testified in writing, 
*'We have very often, when at the mines, put the 
blades of our knives into the water, which, in a few 
minutes, would be covered with copper." 

With real modern spirit a company, formed in 
1798 for the improvement of the mine, issued a 
prospectus in which the estimate was made that by 
the expenditure of $51,712 the property could be 
developed so as to make a profit of $81,288 the first 
year and $256,726 the second year. The fair promises 
were not fulfilled, as might have been expected. 

For many years the Gap was famous as the pos- 
sessor of the only nickel mine in the United States. 
30 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

The first ore was marketed in 1863, and seven years 
later the product was worth $66,000. 

The outlaws and the promoters who made head- 
quarters at Gap had a worthy successor, so far as 
interest is concerned, in Reuben Chambers, who 
taught school in 1829 or 1830 at a place he called 
Bethania, south of the highway, toward Strasburg. 
His peculiarity was shown when he was beginning 
to think about getting married. Whenever he saw a 
young woman he thought would be suitable as a wife 
he would enter her name in a memorandum book. 
At length, when he had about twenty names, he 
began to get acquainted with them. And this was 
his method: 

" I did not call upon the girls in the evening. . . I called 
in the daytime when they were at work or should be, . . 
I couJd generally make up my mind in one or two visits 
whether they would suit me or not." 

As candidates proved unavailable he would cross 
off their names, at the same time adding others. 
Ultimately the book contained sixty names, all of 
them being erased in turn until but one was left. "I 
was then ready to marry," he wrote. "So I went to 
see her and told her I wanted to marry her and 
believed her the most suitable girl for me that I was 
acquainted with." 

She married him! 

Fifty years before this strange courtship Thomas 
Ambury passed this way and noted a striking feature 
of the landscape that has long been spoken of as a 
characteristic of Lancaster County rural life: 

"The farmer pays more attention to the construction 
of the bam than the dwelling-house. The building is 
nearly as large as a country church . . . and at the gable 

31 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

end of the building there are gates, so that a horse and 
cart can go straight through." 

Another English visitor of the eighteenth century 
had an eye for the landscape rather than the build- 
ings. To him the approach to Lancaster was mar- 
velously pleasing, and he wrote: 

"You can conceive nothing more beautifully roman- 
tic than the appearance of the country. The hills, bold, 
rounding, and lofty, are covered with wood to the very 
summit." 

Lancaster Is proud of Its situation on the Cones- 
toga, a stream called by a local historian "one of the 
most beautiful in the world." It is not necessary to 
make too much allowance for local pride, for the 
creek is rarely beautiful, especially south of the city, 
where it winds about as if eager to keep away from 
the Susquehanna as long as possible. 

Lancaster County was organized In 1729, and 
Lancaster city Is nearly as old. At jBrst the county 
seat was at a tavern much farther south, but the 
canny Hamiltons of Philadelphia, seeing a chance to 
make money, bought a tract of land on the Cones- 
toga, and used their influence to have the county 
seat moved. In 1730 the town was laid out when 
there was no road to the spot and there were few 
people in the neighborhood. But the place grew 
rapidly, and long before the Revolution it was 
famous as the largest Inland town In the Colonies. 
The residents groaned under the necessity of paying 
ground rents to the Hamiltons, but new residents 
continued to come, attracted by the reputation of 
the town where treaties were made with the Indians 
and where manufacturing Industries were developed 
at an early date. One of the chief occupations was 

32 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

the making of pack-saddles for use on the roads 
which soon led from the town in several directions, 
and the fashioning of locks, latches, and rifles. 

Because of Lancaster's location, as well as its 
manufactures, Benjamin Franklin, at the time of 
Braddock's expedition against Fort Du Quesne, 
decided that here was the best place to outfit a huge 
train of wagons and pack-horses to carry supplies to 
the West. 

Philadelphia patriots like Franklin turned anxious 
eyes to Lancaster during the Revolution, when the 
barracks, built in 1758 for use in protecting the 
region from Indian raiders, were occupied by British 
prisoners. In some unexplained manner, many of 
these prisoners made their escape and found their 
way back to Philadelphia. All efforts to discover 
the traitors who were aiding in the escapes were vain 
until an American captain, disguised, consorted with 
a company of fleeing prisoners. His daring bore 
fruit in the arrest of fifteen men, and after that the 
Lancaster barracks were a safe prison. 

For one day this city on the Conestoga had the 
distinction of being the capital of the United States. 
Just after the battle of Brandywine, which fore- 
shadowed the capture of Philadelphia, the members 
of Congress reached Lancaster on horseback, coming 
from Bethlehem. Next day the body met in the 
court house, but before evening it was decided that 
caution dictated a further removal to York. The 
reasons given were that Lancaster was but sixty- 
eight miles from Philadelphia, and that many of the 
members of the State Legislature, then in session at 
Lancaster, were not friendly to the cause of the 
patriots. So York was chosen instead, and Lancaster 
3 33 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

was compelled to be content with the distinction of 
being the capital of Pennsylvania, a privilege con- 
tinued until 1812. 

Twelve years after the removal to York, when 
Congress had long been seated quietly in Philadel- 
phia, the citizens, learning that a permanent capital 
was to be chosen by the lawmakers, forwarded an 
appeal "humbly presuming to offer" Lancaster as a 
candidate. In this it was argued : 

"As an Inland Town we do not perceive ourselves 
inferior to any within the Dominion of the LTnited 
States. . . . We venture to assert that there is not a 
part of the United States which can boast within the 
Compass of ten miles the same number of Waggons and 
good Teams . . . We are thoroughfare to the 4 Cardinal 
Points of the Compass . . . Labor is to be had at the rate 
of 2 shillings per day . . . Our Centrical Situation . . ." 

Lancaster lost the capital, and it came near losing 
some of the advantages of its "centrical situation" 
when the first surveys of the Philadelphia and Colum- 
bia Railway left the town to one side. The danger of 
being passed by was all the greater because many 
residents felt that the intrusion of traffic would be a 
nuisance. Others led in an appeal to the state for a 
change of route. To this request objection was made 
by those in charge of the public works that to build 
the road through Lancaster would increase the ex- 
pense $91,000. Fortunately the re-routing was 
ordered, provided the town would see to it that the 
expense was not greater than $60,000, and that the 
community would pay the bills. The conditions 
were met, and Lancaster secured the railroad. 

A few years later Lancaster had the further dis- 
tinction of being an important point in the first 
telegraph line in the country after the experimental 

34 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

line between Baltimore and Washington. There 
was great excitement and curiosity as the poles were 
planted and the wires were strung on the line, which 
was to extend from Harrisburg to New York, by 
way of Y^ork, Columbia, Lancaster, and Philadelphia. 
Wherever the laborers were busy there was a crowd 
watching them and listening to them as they sang: 

"Sink the poles, boys, firm and strong, 
Short and close together; 
Solder the joints of the mystic thong. 
And let it stand forever." 

The line did not stand forever; it stood only a few 
weeks. The first day's receipts at Lancaster were 
only six cents, while at Harrisburg the amount was 
ten cents. 

At Lancaster the Lincoln Highway leaves the 
main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, following 
in a general way the route of the original road to 
Columbia on the Susquehanna, through a pleasing 
country that becomes more rugged as the river is 
approached. 

The story of Columbia goes far back of the laying 
out of the town in 1787 by Samuel Wright. For 
many years there was a settlement here known as 
Wright's Ferry, a name fortunately preserved by 
the town of Wrightsville, across the river in York 
County. 

At the time when Lancaster was having its first 
struggles with the Philadelphia proprietors, the 
neighborhood of W^right's Ferry was facing troubles 
of a more serious nature, for it was frequently a 
central point of Maryland's efforts to make good her 
claim to that part of Pennsylvania west of the Sus- 
quehanna. This difficulty dated from 1684. In 1717 

35 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

the two colonies agreed on the present boundary, 
but in 1718 Maryland sent surveyors to take up 
lands below what is now Columbia, while seven 
years later settlers were sent to a point on the east 
bank still farther north. The coming of Thomas 
Cresap to the west side of the river, not far below 
what is now Wrightsville, brought matters to a 
head. When he began to operate a ferry across the 
river, and was asked for his license, he said he had a 
license from Maryland. His defiance was the signal 
for the beginning of Cresap's War. Cresap was 
captured by the Pennsylvanians. Many conflicts 
followed. In 1735 there was a pitched battle near 
Wrightsville, while in 173G three hundred Mary- 
landers gathered there to face the Lancaster County 
military force. Discretion proved the better part of 
valor, however, for they disbanded and went home. 
Fortunately, in 1738, the king of England put a period 
to the inter-colonial strife. 

Again, one September day in 1777, Wright's Ferry 
was the center of attraction. Then the members of 
Congress arrived, in flight from Lancaster to York. 
They crossed the river on flat boats ; then they continued 
the journey on horseback, all except John Hancock, 
who had a chaise, while Joseph Jones rode in Washing- 
ton's private carriage, borrowed for the occasion. Two 
days after this, from York, he wrote to the general a 
letter which told of some of the consequences of the 
rough journey: 

" I have your phaeton here . . . The bolt that fastens 
the pole part of the long reins was lost, some brass nails 
also gone, and the lining much dirtied and in some 
places torn. I will have these little matters repaired 
and the carriage and harness kept clean and in as good 

36 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

order as I can, which is the least I can do for the use, 
though I would rather buy it . . ." 

Twelve years later it looked very much as if mem- 
bers of Congress would make Wright's Ferry the ter- 
minus of their journeys. For when the question was 
before Congress as to the permanent location of the 
capital, this famous place was long the most promi- 
nent candidate. Once it was within one vote of victory. 
A commission was appointed by a vote of 28 to 21 to 
select a spot on the banks of the Susquehanna. Harris- 
burg was spoken of as a possibility , while Peach Bottom, 
not far from the state line, was mentioned. Washington 
favored Wright's Ferry because of *' beauty, security, 
and other natural advantages." Members of Congress 
from New England declared that Wright had put his 
ferry at a spot which must be "the center of population 
for years to come"; that when the center moved it 
would be "to the eastward, not to the south; to the 
manufacturing, not to the agricultural states." Some- 
one spoke of the possibility that the settlement of the 
Ohio country would change calculations, but the reply 
was made, "When the Ohio will be settled, or how it 
will be possible to govern it, is past calculation." 

The prophecy concerning the future of Wright's 
Ferry for many years seemed to be on the way to ful- 
fillment. Soon after Columbia, the Lancaster County 
terminus, replaced Wright's Ferry, the town began to 
boom by reason of the large river traffic from the north. 
Because the keel boats could not descend farther, the 
town became a sort of port. It is recorded that often as 
many as 1500 or 2000 arks and rafts and a large number 
of keel boats would come on a single freshet. 

In 1805 Robert Sutcliffe visited the town. "I saw a 
number of large flat-bottomed boats in the river," he 

37 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

wrote, "some of which had come upward of three hun- 
dred miles, and could carry one thousand bushels of 
wheat. The largest of these are more than seventy 
feet in length, and calculated for one voyage only, and 
for floating down the river with the stream, over shal- 
lows and falls; for when they arrive at their destination, 
they are taken to pieces, and the timber is used for 
other purposes." 

The growing importance of the town made necessary 
the building across the river in 1812 of what was said to 
be the longest bridge in the world, at a cost of $233,000. 
For a structure a mile and a quarter long this sum 
certainly does not seem excessive. This bridge and its 
successors had a liistory of disaster. In 1832 ice 
destroyed it. The rebuilt bridge was burned in July, 
1863, to prevent the crossing of the invaders from the 
South, who had reached Wrights ville. In 1868 a new 
bridge was built on the old piers and with the old abut- 
ments. This, said to be "the longest covered bridge in 
the world," was thrown into the river by a tremendous 
storm in 1896. 

The coming of the railroad from Philadelphia gave 
the booming town a fresh impetus. The opening of 
the Pennsylvania Canal up the Susquehanna, and tlie 
Tidewater Canal to Maryland, the development of 
deposits of iron ore, the building of smelting furnaces — 
one of them the first furnace in Lancaster County to use 
anthracite coal — helped to make Columbia a busy place. 

The atmosphere of these early railroad days is most 
acceptably conveyed by the perusal of the accomit of a 
journey from Pldladelphia to Columbia, written in 1836: 

"We had chosen a unilocular car of oval shape with a 
seat running around the entire inside, so that the nose 
of each passenger inclined toward some point in a 

38 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

straight line drawn between the two foci of an ellipse. 
There were in the car about twenty people . . . one, an 
old woman, amused the company with dreadful acci- 
dents supposed to have happened on the self-same 
road; an old gentleman was fully occupied in parrying 
from his ignitable proboscis the dangerous sparks emit- 
ted by the engine, which! continually flitted like fire- 
flies in every direction through the car. . . . 

"Two cars filled with passengers and covered with 
baggage are drawn by four fine horses for about four 
miles to the foot of the inclined plane, which is on the 
western bank of the Schuylkill, and is approached by a 
spacious viaduct . .' . At the foot of the inclined plane 
the horses were loosed from the cars, several of which 
were tied to an endless rope, moved by a steam engine 
placed on the top of the plane, and finally began to 
mount the acclivity with the speed of five miles an 
hour , • . when the cars had all arrived at the top of the 
plane, some twelve or fourteen were strmig together like 
beads, and fastened to the latter end of a steam tug . . . 
The inclined plane is more than nine hundred yards in 
length and has a perpendicular rise of about one hun- 
dred and seventy feet. . . . 

"The Columbia Rail Road is made of the best ma- 
terials, and has cost the State a great sum; but it has 
some gTeat faults. The curves are too numerous, and 
their radii generally too short, in consequence of which 
the journey to Columbia (eighty miles) consumes seven 
or eight hours, instead of four or five. The viaducts 
are built of wood instead of stone, and the engineer, 
doubting their ability to bear the weight of two trains 
at once, has brought the two tracks on them so close 
together, as to prevent two trains passing at the same 
time . . . The roofs are so low as to prevent the locomo- 
tives from having chimneys of a sufficient height to keep 
the cinders out of the eyes of the passengers, and to 
prevent the sparks from setting fire to the carts and 
baggage. The chimneys of the steam-tugs are jointed, 
and in passing a viaduct the upper part is turned down, 
which allows the smoke to rush out at so small a height 

39 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

as to envelop the whole train in a dense and noisome 
cloud of smoke and cinders . . . We soon found that the 
smoking ordeals could be passed without damage, by 
shutting our mouths and eyes, and holding our noses 
and tongues. . . . 

"We left Lancaster ... in a Rail Road Car drawn by 
two horses, tandem; arrived at Columbia in an hour 
and a half . . . Here is the western termination of the 
Rail Road, and goods from the seaboard intended for 
the great West are here transhipped into canal-boats. . . . 

"The State does not afford the public as good a com- 
modity of traveling, as the public ought to have for the 
money paid. For locomotive power each passenger car 
pays two cents per mile, and half a cent per mile for 
each passenger: for toll each passenger car pays two 
cents per mile, and one cent per mile for each passenger : 
burthen cars pay half the above rate. The estimated 
cost of working a locomotive, including interest and 
repairs, is sixteen dollars per diem; and the daily sum 
earned is twenty -eight dollars; affording a daily profit 
to the state of twelve dollars on each locomotive. 
Empty cars pay the same toll and power-hire as full 
ones. . . ." 

To-day the main line of travel passes Columbia to the 
north, river traffic has ceased, the canals are a memory, 
some of the furnaces are abandoned, but Columbia is 
still a thriving town. Closed buildings on the street 
facing the river bear mute witness to the activity of 
days gone by, but better buildings on the other streets 
tell of present activity and a measure of prosperity. 

One of the glories of the early days cannot be taken 
away— the striking scenery about the town which led 
Sutcliffe to call this "one of the most beautiful and 
romantic parts of America." 

The best way to see the beauty of which the early 
visitor told is to go two miles up the river, to the top of 
Chickies Rock. From this eminence, two hundred feet 

40 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

above the river, which stretches away to the southeast 
and sweeps in a stately curve almost directly west, is 
spread out before the eyes what a traveler of fifty years 
ago called "one of the loveliest landscapes on which my 
eyes have fallen." Then he declared, "The whole 
region round about is a miracle of God's handiwork, 
not' mountainous, but hilly, as if, in Mrs. Browning's 
phrase, *His fingers touched, but did not press, in 
making it.' '* 

It is diflScult to turn from the sparkling river to a 
panorama vastly different, the Chickies Valley and the 
Donegal Valley — mile on mile of cultivated fields, 
green forest, gently sloping hills, and houses nestling in 
the midst. And it is just as difficult to turn back to 
the river from this alluring prospect. 

The present location of the road from Columbia to 
Marietta is better adapted to sightseeing than the 
original road built in 1826, which follows the river 
most of the distance. From a point back of the rock, 
and still higher, it is possible on a clear day to look on 
and on to the Lebanon hills. 

Chickies Rock was originally called Chikiswalungo, 
"the place of crawfish." But the long, though musical, 
name was in time broken up. Half was given to the 
rock and the creek from which it has its name, while 
half was given to the village Salunga, between Lancaster 
and Elizabethtown. 

Marietta, the delightful town located Just above 
Chickies, is a monument to a double union, rather than 
a division. Once there were two towns near by. Water- 
ford and New Haven. Instead of the two names one 
was given, Marietta, made up from the names Mary 
and Henrietta, who were the wives of the founders. 

From the summit of Round Top, opposite Marietta 

41 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

in York County, there awaits the visitor who chooses a 
clear day a view forty miles in extent. While this is in 
many respects the same as the backward view from 
Chickies, it is different enough to make the climb worth 
while. The Susquehannocks, at least, thought so, for 
this eminence was one of their favorite resorts. 

Students of Indian lore say that this tribe had a 
number of strongholds to the south of Columbia, along 
the Susquehanna. Perhaps the best known of these 
was opposite Washington Borough, in York County. 
It is of interest to remember that the dispute between 
the heirs of William Penn and Lord Baltimore as to 
the boundary line between their provinces was caused 
by uncertainty as to which of several Susquehannock 
forts was meant when Penn agreed with Baltimore that 
one of these should mark the dividing line. 

Other relics of the Indians are plentiful along these 
shores. Between Columbia and the mouth of the Con- 
estoga are two great rocks whose flat surfaces are cov- 
ered with picture writing. Just below the mouth of the 
Conestoga are Big Indian Rock and Little Indian Rock, 
both of great size, also used by the red men for their 
picture records. 

The Conestoga Creek is another haunt of the Indian. 
The Conestoga trail led from Philadelphia through Gap 
to a point three miles above the creek. Some distance 
from the river was the site of Penn's Conestoga village, 
in the midst of a reservation set aside by him for his 
friends, the first owners of the country. For a time he 
dreamed of building at the mouth of the Conestoga a 
city which should rival Philadelphia, but he was com- 
pelled to be content with erecting the Indian village. 
To this settlement a road was begun in 1683, and com- 
pleted in 1734. This followed, iu a general way, the 

42 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

present line of the Lancaster road to Octoraro Creek. 
Near Christiana it turned south, finally reaching 
Wright's Ferry after passing through Conestoga and 
Blue Rock. 

Conestoga was destroyed in 17C3, when the Paxton 
Boys, in their search for Indians charged with murdering 
settlers, went there in force and killed most of the 
inhabitants. 

Blue Rock, above the mouth of the Conestoga, once 
promised to become a town of importance. In 1788 
John Penn wished to buy two hundred acres which 
commanded the distant banks of the Susquehanna, 
and several islands. These lands he thought might be 
"collected into one great prospect." But John Penn 
failed in his plans, as had W^illiam Penn before him. 

Conestoga Creek and Lancaster County must be 
given a large place in the story of the development of 
water transportation. It was on this stream that 
William Henry, a native of the county, in 1763, made 
trial of his ingenious steamboat. His contrivance had 
paddle wheels of good design, but the engine was too 
heavy, and the boat sank. John Fitch, who for a season 
made a success of his steamer on the Delaware from 
Philadelphia to Burlington, once stopped to see Henry 
when on the road to Kentucky. The Philadelphia 
inventor, who was already making his own experiments, 
was deeply interested in Henry's drawings and patterns. 
Five months before the death of the Lancaster County 
originator. Fitch made a successful trial of his first boat 
on the Schuylkill, near the High (Market) Street 
bridge. The boat performed well, but most observers 
seemed doubtful of the practicability of the contrivance. 
J. P. Brissot de Warville in 1788 reflected public opinion 
when he said : 

43 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

"I doubt not, jihysically speaking, the machine may 
produce part of the effects which are expected from it; 
for, notwithstanding the assurances of the undertakers, 
it must require many men to manage it, and nmch 
expense in repairing the damage occasioned by the 
volume and multiphcity of its parts." 

Robert Fulton, too, was a Lancaster County man. 
He was born in the southeastern part of the county, but 
spent a portion of his youth in Lancaster, where he 
showed more interest in art than in mechanics. When 
he built his first steamboat he turned to the Hudson for 
its testing because the Susquehanna, by whose waters 
he had wandered many times, was too shallow, as were 
the waters of the creeks near his home. 

In 1909, when New York was observing the centennial 
of the trial trip of the Clermont, a pilgrimage was made 
from Lancaster to Fulton's birthplace near Little 
Britain, on the Conowingo. A memorial tablet was 
dedicated there that day, and Lloyd MiflSin's tribute 
was read: 

*'A child of Lancaster, upon the land. 
Here was he born, by Conowingo's shade; 
Along these banks our youthful Fulton strayed. 
Dreaming of Art. Then Science touched his hand. 
Leading him onward, when, beneath her wand. 
Wonders appeared that now shall never fade: 
He triumj)hed o'er the Winds, and swiftly made 
The giant, Steam, subservient to command." 

It is remarkable that, of the "first" steamboats navi- 
gated in American waters before 1807, six of the trials 
took place in Pennsylvania streams. 

The first iron steamboat ever constructed was launched 
on the Susquehanna opposite Marietta, in 1825. 
This was also the first steamer on this river. Phineas 
Jordan was the builder. The vessel, the CodoruSy was 

44 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

sixty feet long, had a nine-foot beam, and was three 
feet high. Its weight, complete, was six tons, of w^hich 
1400 pounds were sheet iron, while the engines and 
boilers weighed two tons. The empty vessel drew five 
inches of water, and every ton of load caused it to sink 
an inch deeper. 

The Codorus, named for the creek on which it was 
built, was brought overland to Marietta, where it 
arrived in a pouring rain. Yet the enthusiastic citizens 
were on hand in such numbers that they were able to 
draw it with a rope from the west side of the bridge to 
the upper end of Main Street in Marietta. 

The speed of the marvel was supposed to be five 
miles an hour, but when it made three miles up- 
stream, against the wind, in thirty-three minutes, this 
was thought to be a great performance. At this speed 
the river was navigated as far up as Owego and Bing- 
hamton. Y^et the financial returns were so small that 
in 1827, when the vessel was rusting in the dock at 
Y^ork Haven, on account of insufficient water for the 
five-inch draft, an indignant stockliolder wrote to ask 
what was the purpose of investing such a large sum as 
"between two and three thousand dollars," only to 
have an idle iron steamer. Probably he had some slight 
return on his investment when, in 1827, the Codorus 
was sold to a Junk dealer for $000. 

The time required for a trip down the Susquehanna 
from Columbia will be well spent, notwithstanding the 
fact that William Cullen Bryant permitted the state- 
ment to be made in "Picturesque America": "All the 
Susquehanna scenery is not beautiful. The ending 
is dull and prosaic; the long stretch south of Columbia 
. . . presents nothing w^orthy of conmiemoration by the 
pencil or comment by the pen." The author c^uoted 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

this opinion to a conductor on the passenger train that 
runs every morning along the river bank, from Cohmibia 
to Perry ville, Maryland. "Wait and see for yourself," 
he said. "I have been making this run twice a day, 
seven days a week, for ten years, and I can't see the 
river often enough. Just the other day I found some- 
thing I had never noted before." 

The trip is a long succession of surprises. The scenery 
is so varied that there is no excuse for weariness, all the 
way from Columbia to Peach Bottom. Bayard Taylor, 
who lived but forty miles from this section of the stream, 
declared that it went ahead of anything the Rhine 
could offer. 

At Safe Harbor, where the Conestoga makes its entry 
through a wooded gap, the traveler is apt to rise to his 
feet in admiration, and when he comes to the mouth of 
the Pequea he does not know how to express himself. 
Here Tucquan Lake, as the backwater from the dam 
of the Pennsylvania Power Company, farther down, is 
called, covers the rocks and fills the channel from the 
rocky wall on the one side to the abrupt green slope on 
the other. Below the dam the rugged rocks and the 
wooded islands that bar the passage of the water 
trickling down look like a bit from the wilds of Canada. 

Pequea Creek is another of the historic streams of 
Lancaster County. Far back in the glen through which 
it approaches the Susquehanna muskets were made for 
Washington's army. And seventy years earlier the 
valley was the scene of great activity, when 10,000 
acres were bought by the Swiss Mennonites and the 
French Huguenots. Strasburg was the center of the 
colony. The Indians who lived at Conestoga said they 
would protect the settlers, who were known as the Pala- 
tines, and they kept their promise. Pequea Creek was 

4G 



#^ 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

named from the Piqua clan or totem of the Shawnee 
Indians. They had many Piqua towns. The name 
Piqua, in Ohio, is the survival from one of these. 

York County shares with Lancaster the distinction 
of having on its border the delightful Susquehanna. 
The western banks are, as a rule, more rugged than 
the eastern, and seem more like a barrier to the rich 
country behind them. At Wrightsville, however, where 
the Lincoln Highway crosses the river, the shore is more 
hospitable, affording a pleasant portal to the compara- 
tively easy grades of the road to York which the patriots 
followed in the darkest days of the Revolution. 

Congress had no hesitation in going to York in 1777, 
since the loyalty of the citizens had been amply proved. 
The town furnished the first organized company for 
Washington's army and these first recruits were fol- 
lowed by many more. On July 7, 1776, the pastor of 
the Moravian church wrote: 

"Yorktown seems quite deserted on account of the 
departure for the army of all men under fifty years of 
age. Our young men had to leave for Jersey." 

At the time of the coming of Congress, in September, 
1777, there were nominally about eighteen hundred 
people in York. The patriots met in the court 
house in Center Square, whose bell had pealed out 
the news that the Declaration of Independence had 
been signed. This bell is now in the cupola of St. 
John's Episcopal church, though the old court house 
disappeared in 1841. 

There was not much to cheer the members of Congress 
who gathered daily from the shady streets into the 
assembly hall. The least of their troubles was that 
the eight dollars per day allowed them was paid in 
Continental currency, then worth but thirty cents on 

47 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

the dollar. Of the gloom that shadowed everything 
John Adams wrote, in October: 

"The prospect is chilling on every side, gloomy, dark, 
melancholy, and dispiriting. When and where will 
light come for us.^ If Philadelphia is lost, is the cause 
of independence lost? . . . No, the cause is not 
lost. . . . We have as good a cause as ever was 
fought for.'* 

One day during that same October Samuel Adams 
roused his associates by a ringmg message: 

"If we as delegates in Congress give up in despair, 
and grow desperate, public confidence will be de- 
stroyed and American liberty will be no more. . . . 
Though fortune has been unpropitious, our conditions 
are not desperate; our burdens, though grievous, can 
still be borne; our losses, though great, can still be 
retrieved. . . . We shall not be abandoned by the 
Powers above so long as we act worthy of aid and 
protection." 

From the hall where these words were spoken went 
out, a few days later, the first Thanksgiving procla- 
mation. Here the Articles of Confederation were 
ratified, and here was received the cheering news of 
Burgoyne's defeat and the later word from Franklin 
of the signing of the treaty with France. It was Saturday 
afternoon when the message from Franklin reached town, 
by way of Wright's Ferry. Congress had adjourned 
until Monday, but the members were called together 
by the joyous sound of the bell in the court house. 

There was great enthusiasm when the news was 
announced throughout the town, but enthusiasm was 
still greater when, on June 20, 1778, it was shouted 
along the streets that Philadelphia had been evacuated, 
and that the way was open for the return of Congress 
to the historic meeting place on Chestnut street. 

48 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

A tablet in Center Square records the fact that Con- 
gress met in York during the days when so much 
history was made. The traveler who reads the brief 
statements is interested to recall that the three 
habitations of Congress in Pennsylvania during the 
days of the Revolution were all on the line of the 
Lincoln Highway. 

Like Lancaster, York was a receptive candidate for 
the permanent location of the capital. A committee 
was appointed to make a survey of a district ten miles 
square, of which the court house was to be the center. 
But, though York's claims were considered, a location 
on the Susquehanna seemed preferable to those who 
favored fixing the capital in Pennsylvania. 

When hope of becoming permanent hosts to the 
nation was gone, the people of York turned with ardor 
to service for the country in other ways. The town 
prospered, and in its prosperity others shared. There 
were many instances of industrial activity that made 
distinct contribution to the country. For instance, 
Phineas Jordan, already mentioned as the builder of 
the Codorus, in 1831 constructed the first coal-burn- 
ing locomotive. The Baltimore and Ohio Railway 
directors were in difficulty for lack of such an engine, 
and an offer was made of a prize for the best machine. 
Of the three engines built in response to the plea, Mr. 
Jordan's *York" was approved by the judges. To 
it the prize of $4000 was awarded because it burned 
coal, consumed its own smoke, could draw fifteen 
tons at a speed of fifteen miles an hour, did not weigh 
more than three and a half tons, and in pressure of 
steam did not exceed one hundred pounds to the square 
inch. 

In 1832 the first steel springs used in America were 

4 40 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

placed on the locomotive by Mr. Jordan. It was then 
in better shape than ever for the hard service expected 
of it. For many years this pioneer engine was kept 
on the road. It is now prized as a memorial of the 
early days of railroading. 

From York to the western line of the county the 
road passes through country sometimes rolling, again 
quite rugged. The southwestward course is determined 
by the ridge that borders the valley of the Conewago, 
and a good opportunity to turn westward is not pre- 
sented until after the head of the creek is reached. 

Near the line of Y'ork County is Hanover, a 
town which was in Revolutionary days a worthy 
neighbor of York. More than two years before the 
adoption of the Declaration of Independence, on June 
4, 1774, citizens of the town, in public meeting, resolved 
that, "in the event of Great Britain attempting to 
force unjust laws upon us by the strength of arms, 
our cause we leave to Heaven and our rifles.' ' 

When Adams County was separated from York 
County, the name of John Adams, who was President 
at the time, was given to it. The appropriateness of 
the choice became evident when, at Gettysburg, the 
Army of the North proved its loyalty to the country 
in a manner that would have delighted the heart of 
the Revolutionary patriot. 

The twenty-five square miles of the battlefield, amid 
the picturesque hills and valleys south of Gettysburg, 
with its great National Cemetery which Lincoln dedi- 
cated in November, 1863, and its hundreds of memo- 
rials of the struggle that raged for three days in and 
about the Devil's Den, Round Top, Benner's Hill, 
Seminary Ridge, the Wheat Field, the Peach Orchard, 
and Cemetery Hill, make one of the nation's most 

50 




PENNSYLVANIA SUGAR MAPLE TREE 
Photo by State Department of Forestry 




VIKW UtOM LITTLE R(JUND TOP, (iETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD 

Warren Statue on Hook 

Plioto from Pliiladelpliia & Reading Railroad 




'4 £ 




ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

sacred places, for this is "the final resting-place for 
those who here gave their lives that that nation might 
live." Every American should stand here at least 
once, that he may put in action the words of him who 
helped to make the field a shrine: 

"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great 
task remaining before' us, that from these honored 
dead we take increased devotion to that cause for 
which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that 
we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have 
died in vain; that the nation, under God, shall have a 
new birth of freedom, and that government of the 
people, by the people, and for the people shall not 
perish from the earth." 

"The Manor of Musk" was the name at first given 
to the Gettysburg country when those who settled there 
received their warrant from the Penns. One of these 
early settlers bought a farm of four hundred acres not 
far from the place where John Gettys later laid out his 
town, paying for the tract a pair of shoes. In 1843 it 
was a matter of wonder that the land was then worth 
all of twenty dollars per acre. 

The ride from Gettysburg to Chambersburg will not 
easily be forgotten. The successive ridges rise higher 
and higher until the summit of South Mountain is 
reached, at an altitude of 1334 feet. Tliis mountain 
barrier was a wonderful protection to the early set- 
tlers of Adams County during the French and Indian 
War of 1755 to 1758, when the savages swept into 
the valley of the Cumberland. 

There were times, however, when the Indians man- 
aged to pass this barrier. In 1758 nineteen Delawares 
made their way across to the home of Richard Bard, 
where they took Bard, his wife, other members of his 
family, and a number of neighbors. The captives were 

51 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

hurried over South Mountain and then, approximately, 
over the route of the Lincoln Highway to Fort Pitt. 
Mr. Bard escaped and survived a nine days' journey 
back to Bedford County, his only food during the 
period of his flight being " a few birds and four snakes." 
Later he found Mrs. Bard at Shamokin (Sunbury) on 
the Susquehanna. 

When the Indians led their captives over the moun- 
tains they must have passed near Caledonia, which is 
just over the line in Franklin County. Here is now a 
state park, but early in the nineteenth century the 
place was known as the haunt of Thaddeus Stevens, 
who had an iron furnace near. The office building in 
which he spent many years is still standing, while the 
old trolley station is the remnant of the blacksmith 
shop of the furnace. 

Eight miles south of Caledonia is the spot where 
Captain Cook, one of John Brown's raiding party at 
Harper's Ferry, was captured. A marker by the road 
points out the spot. 

Mont Alto, the town nearest the marker, is named 
from Mont Alto Park, which is said to be one of the 
most beautiful natural parks in Pennsylvania. It 
covers ground that once was very wild and almost 
impenetrable. 

East of the highway, at Mont Alto, is the so-called 
" Valley of a Thousand Springs," where Antietam Creek, 
made famous during the Civil War, has its source. 

At Mont Alto is also the South Mountain sanitarium 
for consumptives, operated by the state, as well as the 
School of Forestry from which the State Department 
of Forestry has sent out scores of trained men to assist 
in protecting the forests of Pennsylvania and increasing 
the forest acreage of the commonwealth. The South 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

Mountain State Forest readies north as far as Cale- 
donia, and those who use the Lincohi Highway have 
an opportunity to study the methods found successful 
in the nurseries from which seedlings are sent out to 
those who will help to plant forests. 

Once Pennsylvania was practically covered with a 
dense forest growth; but, by wasteful lumbering opera- 
tions and by fires which have been the result of care- 
lessness, most of this valuable heritage has been lost. 
As a result climate has changed, streams have disap- 
peared, floods have been caused, and the water supply 
of cities and towns has been threatened. 

It is not many years since the people began to realize 
the seriousness of the situation created by their prodigal 
treatment of the priceless forests. From 1886 to 1897 
a few far-seeing men worked through the Pennsylvania 
Foresty Association for the creation of a State Forestry 
Department. The first real sign of progress was the 
establishment in 1897 of the State Forestry Reserva- 
tion Commission. Under its guidance the state began 
to buy back the lands from which lumber had been 
removed, though often it was necessary to pay a higher 
price than was received before the timber was cut. 
Two years later the first forest range was defined, and 
since that time progress has been rapid. The twenty 
thousand acres of forest land owned in 1899 became 
about half a million acres in 1903, while to-day the 
holdings are mofe than a million acres. The goal the 
Department of Forestry has set for itself is at least 
five million acres, though even this goal may be 
advanced in order to take in all the land in the state 
that is not suited to the growth of anything but trees. 

There are now large reservations in every one of the 
old lumbering counties, as well as in other mountain 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

counties and in Pike and Wayne counties. Millions of 
trees are growing under the care of scores of foresters, 
who are supervised by the State Forester; fires are pre- 
vented and subdued, and the water supplies of many 
cities are preserved from contamination. During one 
recent year 10,000,000 seedling trees were grown in the 
department's nurseries, 6,000,000 of these being used 
in the state forests, while 2,350,000 were distributed 
to private individuals, volunteers in the work of forest 
development, many of whom could read with under- 
standing the lines of Joyce Kilmer: 

"I think that I shall never see 
A poem lovely as a tree; 

"A tree whose hungry mouth is prest 
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast; 

**A tree that looks at God all day 
And lifts her leafy arms to pray; 

"A tree that may in summer wear 
A nest of robins in her hair; 

**TJpon whose bosom snow has lain; 
Who intimately lives with rain. 

"Poems are made by fools like me. 
But only God can make a tree." 

The Department of Forestry looks forward to the 
day when every resident of the State of Pennsylvania 
will say, with Don C. Seitz's countryman in "Farm 
Voices" : 

"Hardest thing in life for me 
To go out cuttin' timber; 
Alius hate to touch a tree. 
If we do need lumber. 

54 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

"Want to leave them stand an' grow 
Tall an' green an' grand. 
Like great giants in a row 
Guardin' of the land. 

"WTiile they spread their coolin' shade, 
Whisperin' to each other, 
Shadowin' the forest glade, 
Brother nudgin' brother. 

"Seem to hear the hemlock sigh 
An' the birches shiver 
When they see the axemen nigh; 
Know the aspens quiver!" 

The early settlers in Franklin County, like all pio- 
neers, would have laughed at the idea of conserving 
forests. To them a tree was an enemy to be conquered. 
And they found plenty of trees along the valleys of the 
Conodoguinet and Conococheague creeks and in Path 
Valley, as the fertile ground between the latter creek 
and the Tuscarora Mountain is named. The Path 
Valley settlers were among the earliest arrivals in the 
county, and long before Chambersburg amounted to 
anything the "Conocojig settlement," as it was called, 
from Conococheague Creek, was a thriving though 
scattered community. 

Perhaps the most interesting point in Path Valley is 
a mile from the village of Concord, where the borders 
of Franklin, Huntingdon, and Juniata counties touch. 
The corner of Perry County is also so near that one 
can readily see over the border. 

Four miles from Concord are the headwaters of Tus- 
carora Creek. The stream, after passing through the 
Narrows, a wild gorge in the Tuscarora Mountain, 
flows through the length of Juniata County until it 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

reaches the Juniata. Those who follow the stream along 
its entire course will see a section of unusual attrac- 
tiveness, even for Pennsylvania. 

For a long time roads were scarce in this mountain 
section. The first public road over the Kittatinny 
Mountains from Path Valley into Perry County was 
not built until 18'20, though Concord dates from 1797. 
Lower down in the Path Valley settlers were found as 
early as 1746. They had a precarious foothold for 
some years, because of the enmity of the Indians, 
but by 1750 these same Indians were beginning to 
appreciate the blessings brought to them by the white 
men. In 1750 they asked for the improvement of the 
road through Path Valley, that traders might come 
in more freely. Unfortunately the traders did not 
bring over the road goods that pleased the Indians, 
so in 1750 a chief said, at a conference in Carlisle: 

"Your traders now bring scarcely anything but 
rum and flour . . . The rum ruins us. We beg 
you would prevent its coming in such quantities by 
regulating the traders." 

A road much used in the later days of the Path Val- 
ley settlement passed from Baltimore, through Cham- 
bersburg, to Upper Strasburg and on by way of the 
valley of the Juniata to Fort Pitt. This was the shortest 
route to the Ohio River, and was chosen by thousands 
of drivers of pack horses. From this road can be seen 
the abrupt termination of one of the ridges of the 
Kittatinny Mountains, In a peak that is visible for 
many miles. From its summit a wide prospect is 
provided of the beautiful Cumberland Valley. At the 
foot of the peak — called Clark's Knob, for James 
Clark, the first settler, who made his home at Clark's 
Fancy, the present site of Upper Strasburg — is Clark's 
66 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

Gap; through this the road finds its way into Hunting- 
don County. 

^Yhen Francis Bailey, the EngHsh traveler, visited 
Chambersburg in 1796, the road to Pittsburgh most in 
favor was not that through Strasburg, but that over 
the Tuscarora Mountains to McConnellsburg and Bed- 
ford, the route of the Lincoln Highway. His astonish- 
ment at the traffic he told in his book of travels : 

"I have seen ten and twenty waggons at a time on the 
way to Pittsburgh and other points of the Ohio, from 
there to descend that river to Kentucky. The waggons 
are loaded with the clothes and necessaries of a number 
of poor emigrants, who follow on foot with their wives 
and families ... In this manner they will travel 
and take up their abode in the woods on the side of the 
road, like the gipsies in our country, taking their pro- 
visions with them, which they dress on the road'a side." 

In the building of the road which these emigrants 
traversed, Colonel Benjamin Chambers, founder of 
Chambersburg, gave much assistance to General Forbes, 
providing needed material and labor. Such leader- 
ship was expected of him by the people to whom he had 
been protector as well as friend. After Braddock's 
defeat, for instance, he built a stone house, roofed with 
lead, surrounded by water from Falling Spring as well 
as by a stockade. It is said that this stronghold was fre- 
quently attacked by Indians, but that no harm ever 
came to those who sought shelter within its walls. 

By frequent conflicts with the Indians these hardy 
residents in Benjamin Chambers' town learned the 
value of security and freedom to such purpose that, 
when the Revolution made test of them, they stood 
in the forefront of the patriots who could be counted 
on to the last drop of blood. The community had no 
patience with a slacker. Once it was recorded in the 

57 



SEEING PEXXSYLVAXIA 

minutes of the Falling Spring Presbyterian church 
that charges were presented against a man who was 
"strongly suspected of not being sincere in his pro- 
fession of attachment to the cause of the Revolution." 

The situation of the town near the Mason and Dixon 
Line, and on the direct road from Hagerstown to Harris- 
burg, made it second only to Gettysburg among the 
towns of Pennsylvania for its part in the Civil War. 
In the summer of 1859 John Bro^m, who called him- 
self John Smith, and claimed to be a prospector for 
minerals in the mountains of Maryland and Virginia, 
appeared on the streets. Mysterious boxes (or boxes 
that might have been mysterious if they had not been 
thought to contain innocent supplies for the prospector) 
came to the town addressed "Smith and Son." These 
were called for by wagoners and were hauled away 
into the mountains, and down to a farm which John 
Brown had rented near Harper's Ferry. There they 
were opened, and the rifles, pistols, and ammunition 
in them were carefully stored for use when the raid on 
the arsenal should be made. 

It has been claimed that the suffermgs of Chambers- 
burg at the hands of the army of the South during the 
Civil "War were due to the tov^^l's failure to apprehend 
the unwise enthusiast and so prevent the raid. 

On October 10, 1862, General J. E. B. Stuart with 
two thousand men reached town, the objective being 
the destruction of the military stores not long before 
taken from General Longstreet. Among other booty 
seized by the invaders were l-^OO horses. Again, on 
June 15, 1863, a force of 1500 men plundered the 
town and remained for three days, then went on to 
Mercersburg, from there crossing Cove Mountain to 
McConnellsburg. 

58 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

Less than a week later came the vanguard of Lee's 
army. For six days and five nights after their arrival, 
according to one who hved in the town at the time, 
"the legions of the South kept pouring through the 
main street— 70,000 or 80,000 men." 

General Lee, who came on the fourth day, was un- 
certain whether to go toward Harrisburg or to- 
ward Gettysburg. The roads forked at the Diamond; 
there he hesitated a long time before turning toward 
Gettysburg. 

The last invasion was on July 30, 1864, when a call 
was made for a contribution of $500,000 in greenbacks 
or $100,000 in gold. Unless the sum was found within 
half an hour the to^Ti would be burned, the citizens 
were told. They refused to meet the demand, and fire 
was set to the homes. More than three million dollars' 
worth of property was destroyed. 

Those days of destruction are only a memory. The 
city, which dominates the beautiful valley, is more 
than ever the pride of the residents of the county, who 
go there to do their marketing from Furnace Hollow 
and from Mercersburg, from Antietam Creek and 
from the "Conocojig." 

It is remarkable that in the fourteen miles from 
Chambersburg to the banks of the Conococheague at 
Fort Loudon the net ascent is but fourteen feet. 
However, this must not be taken as an indication that 
the road is level, or that the scenery is lacking in charm. 
The view of hill and valley, so satisfying as Chambers- 
burg is left behind, becomes more and more fasci- 
nating; all the way to Fort Loudon the prospect of 
distant heights and ridges, in which there seem to be 
no break, is compelling and restful. 

On the highway, a mile east of Fort Loudon village, 

59 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

a marker calls attention to the Fort Loudon monument, 
located not far away, on the site of the old fortress. 
This fortress, built in 1756 for the protection of the 
settlers against the Indians, was one in the long series 
of forts which stretched along the mountain barrier 
toward the Delaware River at Stroudsburg. General 
Forbes made use of it as he gathered troops and sup- 
plies for his expedition of 1758 against Fort Du Quesne. 

Tourists w ill find difficulty in passing by this historic 
locality without lingering for a season of exploration. 
To the north the Conococheague and the Conodo- 
guinet give mute invitation; Richmond Furnace, one 
of the best known of the haunts of the iron workers of 
early days, is but one of many points of interest that 
lie in that direction. The prospect from the top of 
Old Beaver Ore Washer, near the furnace, is up the 
valley to the point where a spur of the mountain 
divides Amberson's Valley from Path Valley. Back of 
the old furnace is another beautiful valley called Allen's 
Valley. Through this runs Aughwick Creek, long a 
favorite fishing place for trout and pickerel. Cowan's 
Gap, an opening from the valley to the western country, 
was visited by engineers in 1860, with a view to the 
building of a southern railroad through it which should 
sliorten the distance to Pittsburgh. Farther north, near 
the Conococheague, another eminence, Jordan liiob, 
rises liigh enough to give a view of the whole country 
south toward the Maryland line. 

That these valleys were familiar to the Indians is 
evident from the names of the two creeks that dominate 
the valleys: "Conococheague," with whose spelling 
the pioneer had as much difficulty as with the pro- 
nunciation, meant, *'It is Indeed a long way." "Cono- 
doguinet" was still more expressive; its meaning is 

60 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

said to be, "It is a long way with bends." The course 
of the stream surely bears out the name. Along its 
banks the Indians went when they were traveling 
from the Susquehanna to the Allegheny by the Kittan- 
ning Path. In 1808 the legislature declared the stream 
a public course for floats and boats. 

Farther south on the Conococheague is Mercers- 
burg, where James Black settled in 1730. Among 
other early settlers was the Mercer family. General 
Hugh Mercer was perhaps the most famous of the 
family. For a time he was in charge of the fort at 
Shippensburg, to the north of Chambersburg, and 
later was engaged with Washington in important 
movements in the Revolution, whose climax was the 
battle of Princeton. With this battle his name will 
ever be connected because of his death on the field. 

Black, the pioneer, must have had an eye for the 
picturesque. The site he selected for his home has 
mountains to the north and to the west, distant from 
two to five miles. And all this beauty he bought 
for a gun and a string of beads! 

Among those whom the town attracted — though in 
their case, perhaps, for reasons of utility rather than 
beauty — were the parents of James Buchanan, who 
moved here in 1796, five years after the future President 
was born in a bit of Cove Gap, known as Stony Batter. 
A memorial in the form of a pyramid, built on the site 
of his birthplace, is not far from Foltz, on the high- 
way from Mercersburg to McConnellsburg. 

It is interesting to note that Buchanan, the only 
President from Pennsylvania, who was born in Frank- 
lin County, received his education in the adjoining 
county, Cumberland, and studied law at Lancaster, 
whose people sent him to the legislature and later — 

61 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

acting with the voters of York and Dauphin counties — 
to Congress. It was in Lancaster County, too, that 
he spent his last years. His home, WTieatland, bought 
in 1848, is one of the show places of Lancaster. 

Mercersburg claims distinction as the birthplace of 
Elizabeth Irwin, the mother of Benjamin Harrison, 
as well as of Jane Irwin, her older sister, who married 
William Henry Harrison, Jr., and was mistress of the 
White House during the presidency of her father-in- 
law in 1841. Their father, Archibald Irwin, was pastor 
of the Presbyterian church in Mercersburg when the 
Buchanans were members there. Three representa- 
tives, therefore, of this small community, spent terms 
in the White House. 

When James Buchanan was born there was no road 
from Mercersburg to Stony Batter, though there was 
a favorite Indian trail. This trail was used by the 
pack horses long before the wagon road was built. 
The later turnpike, after following the Indian trail 
for a distance, turns to the left at Stony Batter, and 
for a space climbs the mountain by a series of easy 
grades, always keeping close to the old trail. Long 
before reaching the summit, however, it returns to the 
historic path. 

The route followed by the Lincoln Highway from 
Fort Loudon to the westward is a few miles north of 
the historic Indian trail and its successors, the pack- 
horse path and the roadway. For five miles it rises 
rapidly from six hundred feet to twenty-one hundred 
feet. The glory of the prospect to the rear increases 
as the height is reached, yet the traveler is hardly pre- 
pared for the vision that greets him from Tuscarora 
Summit, the Cumberland Valley on one side, and on 
the other the Cove Valley with McConnellsburg the 

62 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

chief jewel in a valley of green. It is a delight to stand 
on the height on a clear day, when fleecy clouds are 
passing before the sun. The waving of the distant 
grain and the alternations of light and shade, caused 
by the clouds reflected on the ridge, make a restful 
picture to be recalled in many later hours of weariness. 

Thaddeus Mason Harris, one of the pioneers who 
passed this way, said that here on the summit "the 
view was still more diversified and magnificent, crowded 
with mountain upon mountain in every direction; 
between and beyond which were seen the blue tops of 
others more distant, mellowed down to the forest 
shade, till all was lost in unison with the clouds.'* 

In 1794 Dr. Thomas Cooper said: 

"It is impossible to pass this part of the journey 
without being struck with the perpetual succession 
of beautiful and romantic situations, numerous and 
diversified beyond what any part of England can supply 
within my recollection." 

During the same year an officer who was on his 
way to help in quelling the Whiskey Insurrection stood 
on Tuscarora Summit where he saw "a prospect un- 
expectedly grand. To the north, south, and west 
appeared a little world of mountains, arranged in all 
the majesty of nature and destitute of a single sign of 
art or cultivation." 

Robert Carleton, bound for the wilds of Indiana, 
also paused here to give expression to his wonder and 
delight. "Few are unmoved by the view from that 
top; as for myself, I was ravished," he wrote in his 
journal. "Was I not on the dividing ridge between two 
worlds — the worn and faded East, the new and magic 
West.5" 

The traveler who stands where the pioneers looked 

63 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

down on what is now Fulton County saw a territory 
that was notable for its diflBculty of access, even in 
that day when diflBculties were commonplaces. The 
diflBculty has not been entirely obviated in this day of 
easy transportation, for Fulton County is the only 
county in Pennsylvania without a railroad. "We 
thought we would soon be rid of that distinction," the 
keeper of a refreshment stand on Tuscarora Summit 
said to the author; "but many of those who were 
promoting the road that was coming here from the 
east have been accused of misappropriation of funds." 

When this county was organized in 1850 the resi- 
dents asked that the name Liberty be given to them. 
But the passage of the bill depended on a senator who 
would not agree to vote for it unless he was allowed to 
call the county Fulton. The county seat was fixed at 
McConnellsburg. Seated in the Great Cove Valley, 
it has the Tuscarora Mountains on the east and Ray's 
Hill on the west, with the Big and Little Scrub Ridge 
between. These mountains did not protect it from 
invasion from the South during the Civil War. On 
June 20, 1863, Confederate cavalry took possession of 
the town, and on a day in 1864, three thousand troops 
passed along the main street. 

From the Great Cove Valley — which, for fertility 
and beauty, Thomas Bailey in 1796 compared to Ken- 
tucky — the highway leads on, across intervening 
ridges, to Ray's Hill, the western boundary of Fulton 
County. This hill, together with Sideling Hill farther 
east, furnished one of the dreaded passages for the 
pioneer. "We had been given a fearful description of 
it," Johan Schoepf wrote in 1788. Fifteen years after 
he owned that this assurance, spoken before the journey, 
"probably made it the more endurable." George Henry 

64 




MONUMKN r <)i\ THE SITE OF THE BIRTHPLACE OF PRESIDENT JAMES 

BUCHANAN, FULTON fOITNTY 

I'll. It., t.v 1.1. .V.I M. Smith 




««<t. 



WIOHSriOFf MILLS HIUIX 

I'll. it.) bv State Hit; 



K, FCL'l'ON C<)T!NTY 
iway liupurtuieiit 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

Loskiel, pilgrim from Reading, wrote of his experience 
on this ridge: 

"A wilderness of rocks is here, 
Both high and rugged, dark and drear. 
Wherever we our eyes maj^ rest, 
By nothing but gray rocks they're met. 

**'Tis Sidehng Mountain; but the name 
Of Mount Patience fits the same; 
For, haste the traveler as he may, 
The summit still seems far away. 

"The prospect from the summit here 
Was beautiful, immense and clear; 
A pity, though, it makes us feel, 
America's unfinished still." 

The highway records of the state show that in 1787 
an order was issued concerning the section of the road 
of which the rhymester wrote so disrespectfully. This 
directed that it "be cleared and made good and suj9B- 
cient, to be twelve feet wide on the side of the hills 
among the rocks, and not less than twenty feet wide 
on the other ground, and room to be made for not less 
than three wagons to draw opposite one side of the nar- 
row places at a convenient distance for others to pass 
by, and the water to run next to the hill side.' ' 

Thus the designers of this Pennsylvania state road 
set a good precedent for their successors of to-day, the 
State Highway Commission, which has done so much 
to make the Lincoln Highway within the state a road 
so easy that it is diflBcult to ai)preciate the trials of 
the pioneers on these same mountains. 

From this slope down into Bedford County there is a 
panorama of striking beauty toward Everett and Bed- 
ford. In the distance ridge rises on ridge, like a series 

5 65 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

of steps. In the foreground lies the Raystown Juniata, 
a stream whose poetic beauty cannot be fittingly 
described. Rufus Putnam, as he drank in the scene 
when on his way to Ohio in 1794, could only call this 
comprehensive view the most picturesque his eyes had 
beheld, while Francis Bailey in 1796 spoke of it as 
"one of the most enchanting and romantic scenes" of 
which he knew. Then, more particularly, he described 
what is certainly one of the choicest vistas of a marvel- 
ous state. "The hill terminates at the river, and the 
road down to it is a narrow winding path, apparently 
dipt out of the mountain." The defile was gloomy, 
but soon light broke on him, "and the first thing 
that presented itself was the Juniata River, flowing 
gently between two very steep hills, covered with 
trees to the very top." 

The crossing of the Juniata (Raystown Crossing) 
is made by a covered bridge of unusual interior con- 
struction; half way across it widens, and the single 
passage is divided by a partition. 

This is a region where it is wise to linger. Every 
turn in the road affords glimpses that have charms 
of their own, ever changing. This road, as Francis 
Bailey said, is "carried along the side of a tremendously 
high hill which seemed to threaten us with instant 
death if our horses should make a false step." 

Four miles from the Juniata crossing, along a nicely 
level road, elevated about one thousand feet, is Everett, 
where the Juniata takes advantage of a passage through 
Warrior's Gap. Once the town was called Bloody 
Run, because Indians there killed a party of traders 
whose traffic they wished to prevent. 

Of Everett's many famous visitors Christopher 
Gist was not the least. In November, 1750, he reached 
66 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

Warrior's Gap, passed eastward over the old Indian 
path on the site of the present highway, then on to 
Shannopin Town (Pittsburgh), his mission being to 
"search out and discover" lands for the Ohio Company. 
The first attempt to make a road through the fertile 
lands and rugged mountains of Bedford County was 
in May, 1755, when the province of Pennsylvania sent 
a party of three hundred men to clear the trail from 
Fort Loudon to Braddock's road at Turkey Foot, in 
Fayette County. James Smith, the eighteen-year-old 
brother of one of the commission in charge of the road 
cutters, has left a record of an interesting incident of 
the heroic attempt: 

**We went on with the road, without interruption, 
until near the Alleghen^'^ Mountains; when I was sent 
back, in order to hurry up our provision wagons that 
were on the way after us. I proceeded down the road as 
far as the Crossings of Juniata, when, finding the wag- 
ons were coming on as fast as possible, I returned up the 
road again toward the Allegheny Mountains." 

About four miles above Bedford, he was captured 
by three Indians and was carried by them to Fort 
Du Quesne. Two years passed before he regained his 
liberty. 

Colonel Bouquet and General Forbes were later 
identified with the opening of the road. At first it was 
known as the "Raystown road" (Raystown was the 
old name of Bedford) but later it was called the Forbes 
road. The name is preserved in Forbes Street, the 
Pittsburgh end of the route. 

Later the Glade road, from a point east of Bedford to 
Somerset, Connellsville, Uniontown, and Brownsville, 
shared the popularity of the Forbes route. In 1820 

the Somerset Whig advertised: 

67 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

"Glade Road Turnpike. Cheap and pleasant Trav- 
elling. Waggoners, travellers and the Puhliek in gen- 
eral, are now informed that the two mountains, the 
Allegheny and Laurel Hill, are now Comj)]ete]y turn- 
piked, and . . . the road is so well improved that it 
can he travelled with more ease both to the horse and 
to the rider than any other road across the mountains." 

Partly because of its situation just east of the junc- 
tion of the Glade road and the Forbes road, Bedford 
was the chief stop[)ing place for packers and travelers 
between Fort Pitt and Chambersburg. Sometimes 
there were as many as a thousand pack horses in the 
town. One man might have in his charge one hundred 
of the animals. Each pack train had three guards who 
went all the way to Fort Ligonier. 

Bedford has a most advantageous situation. The 
hills almost entirely surround it. The Juniata winds 
through llie valley as if it had ample leisure for the trip. 
To tlu; north, beyond tlu^ ridge, Morrison's Cove, 
eight miles wide, extends into Blair and Center counties. 
To the south are the famous Bedford Springs, on the 
side of Evitt's Mountain, near Dunning's Creek, where 
hill and dale, rocky ridge and tree-covered slope com- 
bine to make a perfect picture. 

The country to the south will repay examination 
across the line to Cumberland, Maryland, <Mlher hy the 
road or by the railroad. One of tlie landmarks on the 
way is Bufi'alo Mills, not far from Bedford Springs, 
where, it is said, the last l)u(Ta]o in the county was 
killed. To the north of Bedford, also, either the road or 
the railroad should be taken through a country too 
seldom seen })y tlu^ tourist. There is a choice of routes — 
along George's Run and through Morrison's Cove by 
Pine Ridge and Dunning's Mountain to Hollidaysburg 

G8 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

and Altooria; or by the valley of the Raystown Juniata, 
where the Huntingdon and Broad Top Railroad shows 
the way to mountain marvels. Of the many heights to 
be seen from these ehoice roads, Blue Knob is most 
notaljle, for this is 313G feet high, the greatest eleva- 
tion in Pennsylvania. 

From Bedford the highway leads across a ridge into 
the Quaker Valley, 1210 feet high, in which Schellsburg 
has its seat. Just beyond is Chestnut Ridge. Here, on 
the summit, one of the early travelers, the record of 
whose experiences is interesting reading to-day, was 
overtaken by the night. "The road was narrow and 
bounded by frightful precipices," he declared. "If I 
attempted to advance, a sudden and rapid death was 
unavoidable; or if I remained where I was wolves, pan- 
thers, and tiger cats were at hand to devour me. I chose 
the latter risk as having less of fatal certainty in it." 

A clearing on the mountain road has been made that 
the eye may take in Grand View. Here, from a point 
2350 feet high, there is an inspiring panorama of culti- 
vated fields and forests for twenty-five miles; the V)est 
view east of the Rocky Mountains, it has been called, 
not without reason. This point, from which seven 
Pennsylvania counties are to be seen, is called David 
Lewis's Outlook. David Lewis was a gentleman out- 
law who frequently came to this point to descry ill- 
fated travelers as they come straight toward the gold- 
hungry highwayman. 

Just before the Somerset County line is reached, after 
Grand View is passed, a succession of ridges clear to 
the Maryland line and beyond is in sight. Then comes 
the rapid ascent to tlie summit of the Allegheny Moun- 
tains, 2850 feet high. This ascent is gradual. At one 
point the road runs straight ahead, up hill and down, 

09 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

like a drive in a park; this section is known as the Seven 
Mile Straightaway. 

Stoyestown's steep main street, which is the route of 
the highway, is a vantage point for an impressive out- 
look over a valley where cultivated farms take full 
advantage of the fertile lands. These well tilled farms 
are to be seen on both sides of the road on the top of the 
mountain near Stoyestown. At this point the Glade 
road, where it passes through Somerset, is but five 
miles distant. The county-seat town was an important 
point on the road which, on account of its surface of 
soft earth, was chosen by many drovers for the passage 
of cattle and hogs from the Ohio Valley to Baltimore 
and Philadelphia. Sometimes as many as four or five 
thousand hogs were seen on the road in a single drove. 

Somerset may well be called a highland county. 
Even the valleys are high. The road from Stoyestown 
to Jennerstown is comparatively level for five miles, 
though the elevation is more than eighteen hundred 
feet. Soon, however, it climbs rapidly nearly nine hun- 
dred feet to the summit of Laurel Ridge, the last great 
summit on the route. 

A few miles below the point at which the highway 
crosses Laurel Ridge is Laurel Summit station, on the 
railroad from Ligonier to Somerset. This is in the heart 
of the Westmoreland-Somerset forest reserve, where, 
in 1909, the State Forestry Department acquired 8500 
acres, largely of cut-over, burned land. Laurel Sum- 
mit station is near the head-waters of Linn Creek. 
The stream, in its course to Loyalhanna Creek, cuts 
a deep gorge where the lover of the unusualin highland 
scenery can have his fill of delight. 

From Somerset County the highway passes into 
Westmoreland County, "the garden of western Penn- 

70 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

sylvania," known once for the salt wells along the Con- 
emaugh, later for its coal mining and gas wells. The 
first of the gas wells was driven in 1875. The flow was 
tremendous, but for five years no capitalist could be 
found who was willing to invest the necessary $200,000 
for pipes to lead the flow to the mills. 

Not far from the base of Chestnut Ridge, Ligonicr 
has its most pleasant setting in the valley of the Loyal- 
hanna. Here was Fort Ligonier, an important link in 
the chain of defensive works erected in the days when 
French and Indians were allied against the Pennsylvania 
pioneers. A tablet in the city square tells the story of 
the first English fort west of the Allegheny Mountains, 
built near the square in 1758: 

"Here General Forbes, with the aid of Colonel 
George Washington, Henry Bouquet, and John Arm- 
strong, assembled an army of 7850 men, constructed the 
Forbes road, compelled the evacuation of the fort, Nov. 
25, 1758, thereby overthrowing French and establishing 
English supremacy in this region. 

"Here Colonel Bouquet reorganized the expedition 
for the relief of Fort Pitt, and, while on the march, at a 
point 27 miles west of this, fought the battle of Bushy 
Run, August 5 and 6, 1763, defeating the Indian chief 
Guyasutha, in one of the best contested actions ever 
fought between whites and Indians." 

Ligonier is noted as the residence, after the close of 
his military career, of General Arthur St. Clair. He 
lived a mile and a half north of town, where a tablet 
tells the passerby the main events of his life. Here he 
became a bankrupt, his difficulties having come as a 
result of his purchasing supplies, from his own pocket, 
for the blockhouses of Westmoreland County at the 
outbreak of the Revolution. Later he advanced some 
of the money Washington needed to carry on his work, 

71 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

though part of the sum so advanced was later returned 
to him. Again, in 1791, finding the amoimt furnished 
by Congress insufficient for the expense of his campaign 
against the Indians, he guaranteed the payment of 
many bills himself. When judgment was given against 
him for the debt so contracted (some ten thousand 
dollars) his failure followed. Ilis home was taken from 
him, and he became dependent on a pension from 
the stale, and on another from the United States. His 
last days were spent in the home of his son on Chestnut 
Ridge, not far from the highway. There he made his 
living by caring for travelers in his log cabin. He was 
buried at Greensburg. 

The Loyalhanna opens the way for the passage of 
the highway from Ligonier to Greensbin-g and Pitts- 
burgh, by a gap through Chestnut Ridge, called "The 
Narrows." 

The Loyalhanna is not the only notable stream of 
Westmoreland County. On the western border is the 
Youghiogheny, and its chief tributary in the county is 
Jacobs Creek. This creek has a i)lace in the history of 
the regions bordering on the highway because on its 
banks was built the first furnace west of the Alleghenies, 
and because over it was constructed, in 1801, the first 
chain suspension bridge in the United States, at a cost 
of $G00. 

The broken country about Ligonier, so quietly beau- 
tiful at every turn, is typical of Westmoreland County. 
The section of the county covered by the highway con- 
tains some of its most pleasing vistas of fertile farm 
lands, protecting hills and secluded valleys. 

Not far from the western border of the county, but 
over the line in Allegheny County, is Turtle Creek, the 
scene of Braddock's disastrous defeat at the hands of 

72 




* -5*ia»^_^ 



HI I'l KKMll.K KALlvS, LKJdNIER 
I'hoto by W. T. Hrowri 




ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

the French and Indians, in 1755. Francis Parkman 
says that the events of that day were fraught with 
momentous consequences for America, for there the 
colonists discovered that they were not inferior to the 
British soldier. Besides, that day also made known to 
them their future leader, George Washington. 

The region known as Braddock's Field would have 
had a place in the history of western Pennsylvania, 
even if the Indians had not come upon Braddock here, 
most unexpectedly stealing down from a ravine similar 
to hundreds of others which are a delightful feature of 
Allegheny County scenery. For here, in 1742, when 
the Delawares and their queen, Allequippa, held this 
region, John Frazier, the first settler west of the Alle- 
ghenies, built his cabin. This stood on the site of the 
great Edgar Thomson steel works. 

On March 4, 1791, a deed was signed by the governor of 
Pennsylvania, giving title to three hundred and twenty- 
eight acres of a "certain tract called Braddock's Field." 
The price was less than half a dollar an acre. The 
state reserved "the fifth part of all gold and silver ore!" 

The next appearance of the field in history was in 
1794, when some eight thousand farmers and distillers 
who opposed the whiskey tax gathered here to resist the 
forces of Washington. Fortunately there was no con- 
flict; they dispersed without resistance, and the Whiskey 
Rebellion was at an end. 

Washington's first important visit to the site of 
Pittsburgh was made two years before his fortunate 
escape on Braddock's Field, where he had four bullets 
through his coat while two horses were shot under him, 
though he escaped unhurt. Then he was acting for the 
Ohio Company. After viewing the site at the junction 
of the Allegheny and Monongahela he wrote that he 

73 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

thought the ground extremely well suited for a fort 
and for a city. His judgment was later approved by the 
French. 

Fortunately the French did not long possess the 
strategic site. On November 25, 1758, General John 
Forbes took Fort Du Quesne, and the name Pittsburgh 
was later given to the first permanent white settlement 
at the forks of the Ohio. This was "the end of the 
death struggle between France and England for the 
valley of the Ohio." 

Very soon far-seeing visitors declared their belief 
that Pittsburgh would become a great center of popu- 
lation and industry, and as the years passed there was 
even greater assurance that this county of steep hills 
and great ravines, of fertile uplands and navigable 
rivers would have a place of distinction in the country's 
history. 

In 1836 the man who wrote under the nom de plume 
Peregrine Prolix said, "Pittsburgh is destined to be 
the center of an immense commerce, both in its own 
products and those of distant countries." In 1841 the 
editor of the Wheeling Times, after a visit to Pittsburgh, 
called it "the great manufacturing city of the West," 
and told of climbing to the hills and looking dowTi on a 
sea of smoke which "lay like the clouds upon Chimbo- 
razo. No breath of air moved the surface; but a sound 
rose from the depths like the roar of Niagara's water or 
the warring of the spirits in the cavern of storms." 
Finally he said that, "as a citizen of the West," he was 
proud of Pittsburgh. 

The Wheeling visitor knew where to go for his view 
of the city. The hills, especially those on the South 
Side, have some wonderful points of vantage from which 
the panorama of rivers and heights and bustling city 

74 



.r 



ALONG THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY 

can be seen. A European artist who spent a season in 
Pittsburgh in 1854 chose Coal Hill, opposite the Monon- 
gahela House, for his view. When he came down he 
spoke of the likeness of the scene to that from the hill 
of Pera, opposite Constantinople. "The distances are 
on a smaller scale." he wrote, "but the heights are not 
dissimilar." He said he never saw two scenes more 
alike. To him the Bosphorus was represented by the 
Ohio, the Propontus or Sea of Marmora by the Alle- 
gheny, and the canal by the Monongahela. Alleghenj^ 
City represents Scutari, and there is a bridge crossing 
the canal at about the same distance from the point as 
that over the Monongahela. Old Fort Du Quesne 
stood at the point just as the Seraglio stands in Con- 
stantinople. "The time will come," he added, "when 
the rich colors of sunset, caused by the smoky atmos- 
phere (and they are of wonderful beauty), will be as 
famous and as much sought for as a sight of the Golden 
Horn." 

Not only the hills, but some of the high buildings and 
the tower of the court house, invite the visitor to take 
a view of the industrial city where, in a recent year, 
before the war, were fifteen of the fifty Pennsylvania 
industrial establishments employing over one thousand 
men each; and these fifteen made use of more than 
seventy-two thousand of the one hundred and thirty- 
five thousand assembled in such establishments through- 
out the state. Pittsburgh has a right to its smoke; it is 
the city's badge of honor. 

But the smoke does not keep the tourist from appre- 
ciation of the city's claim to beauty of landscape. Walk 
along her boulevards, study her river banks, go through 
Schenley Park, visit the East End, penetrate the 
recesses of the ravine through which the Baltimore 

75 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

and Ohio Railroad passes to the valley of the Monon- 
galiela from the tunnel under the park, take one of the 
South Side inclines, and watch the city as it falls away 
from underneath, stand on the point bridge and look 
up and down and all around, cross to Allegheny and 
persuade that section of the old city to give up its 
secrets; then say if Pittsburgh is not worthy of a 
place near the end of this great Pennsylvania section 
of the Lincoln Highway, as Philadelphia is worthy of 
the place at its beginning! 



ROUTE II 

BY THE NATIONAL ROAD TO WHEELING 
AND PITTSBURGH 

ABOUT 480 MILES 

"^10 you are from Philadelphia?" 
i^\ The greeting was made to a traveler by an 
old man who was shaking his head sadly as lie 
thought of the past. 

"No, Philadelphia will never be the same," he con- 
tmued dolefull}'. "Once, when on the roads there was 
one long, long train of Conestogas carrying freight that 
brought prosperity to the city, it was in a fair way to 
become great. But the railroads came, and they took 
off the wagons. "WTien the wagoners lost their jobs, the 
country was forsaken, and the city began to go down. 
These modern improvements, as they call them, have a 
lot to answer for!" 

The seventy-five years since the ancient made his 
moan for the departed past have seen the recovery of 
the roads as well as the prosperity of both city and 
countryside. The products of farm and factory have 
grown so rapidly that railroads can no longer take care 
of them adequately, and the highways have again been 
called into service. Instead of the picturesque Cones- 
toga wagon — with its curved bottom that prevented 
freight from slipping out of place on mountain roads, 
its bright blue paint, and its four to eight horses — the 
great automobile truck, well able to move several tons 
on the heaviest grade, appears in convoys of ten, 
twenty, thirty, or more, just as did its lordly fore- 
runner. Once more the drivers camp by the way, or 

77 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

gather In the roadside taverns, which are still to be 
found, though most of these have disappeared, and 
their picturesqueness is a memory. 

One of the routes most favored by the motor-cones- 
toga of to-day is the old National Road which leads 
from Wheeling to Baltimore, for nearly one hundred 
miles within Pennsylvania and over one hundred more 
so close to the southern boundary that it is really 
a Pennsylvania road as far as surroundings are con- 
cerned. Even this stretch would have been in the state 
but for the result of the boundary dispute between 
Pennsylvania and Maryland. ^Yilliam Penn claimed 
the thirty-ninth degree as his southern boundary, but 
in 1750 the present boundary was agreed to. Thus the 
state is narrower by three-fourths of a degree than 
Penn's interpretation of the charter of 1681 indicated. 

Not only is the National Road from Hagerstown to 
the point where it crosses the state line in Somerset 
County a Pennsylvania road by contiguity, but it has 
had so much to do with the development of western 
Pennsylvania and it is such a favorite with the motor- 
ists of the state in their journeys to the West that 
readers of this volume will be asked to follow the 
author along its inviting grades and over its staunch 
stone bridges. 

The approach of the road max be made by the King's 
Highway from Philadelphia to Chester and on to Gap 
by a circuitous route, then to Lancaster, Harrisburg, 
Carlisle, and Chambersburg to Hagerstown. 

The journey to Chester is through one of the state's 
most historic regions. Along this road Washington 
passed repeatedly when going from Blount Vernon to 
Philadelphia and New York. This way also went the 
patriot army when it sought Lord Howe, who had landed 

78 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

at Head of Elk. In November, 1777, Cornwallis led his 
men by this road to Chester, and from there crossed 
the Delaware in order to reach Red Bank. 

Cornwallis's progress was not undisputed. His 
troops were fired on when they were passing along 
what is now Woodland Avenue, Philadelphia, by a 
picket who took refuge in Blue Bell Tavern. This old 
building still stands sentinel over the road at Seventy- 
second street. At that time the two-story section of 
the present deserted tavern stood alone, having been 
erected in 1766. The enlargement dates from 1801. 

The first part of the road is too far from the Delaware 
to enable the traveler to see the great Hog Island 
shipbuilding plant without a detour. But this historic 
island should be seen. During the Revolution it was 
used for military purposes of a very humble nature, but 
during the European War it was the scene of unex- 
pected activity. On September 22, 1917, workmen 
began to transform the eight hundred and forty-six 
acres of marshland into a gigantic ship works. A force 
frequently as large as fifteen thousand men worked 
throughout the winter to prepare the ground for the 
great burden it was to carry. Often steam was used to 
break the frozen soil. Within nine months there were 
on the site fifty shipways, and the first 7500-ton vessel 
had been launched. Back of the yard a little city had 
been built, with two hundred and fifty buildings, which 
included everything required by an up-to-date munic- 
ipality. Thirty thousand men and women were em- 
ployed, and the pay roll was more than one million 
dollars weekly. 

Below Hog Island is Tinicum Island, the scene of the 
first settlement of Europeans in Pennsylvania. The 
Swedish governor, Printz, had his park here. A part of 

79 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

his orchard became an aviation field during the war. 
Joran Kyn occupied a tract of land, granted to him by 
the Crown, whose bounds were the Delaware, Ridley 
Creek, and Chester Creek. 

The entire Chester area, from Eddystone to Marcus 
Hook, has become one of the most intensively indus- 
trial sections of its size in the world. There are two 
shipbuilding plants, in addition to that farther north 
at Hog Island, as well as steel mills, munition works 
and locomotive works. 

The river widens toward Chester; there it is 6600 
feet to the New Jersey shore, and it is a delight to 
survey the broad sweep of the tide-influenced stream. 
Chester, once called Upland, is the oldest town in Penn- 
sylvania. In 1668 it was the chief village of Sweden's 
settlements on the Delaware. It might have been 
chosen by Penn as the site for his new city, if he had 
not been uncertain as to his southern boundary. The 
town has had a checkered history. First it lost its 
importance as county seat of Chester County when 
what is now West Chester grasped the honor. Then it 
enjoyed another period of county-seat life, for Dela- 
ware County was organized almost at once by a state 
legislature that received with great complaisance the 
appeal of the old town by the river. The day came 
when Media, five miles distant, deprived Chester of 
its second county-seat honors. There were those who 
said the town was doomed. Events proved them 
wrong; for factories came, and Chester grew rapidly 
from its seven hundred people to many thousand. The 
growth is now more rapid than ever, for it is becoming 
one of the great manufacturing centers of the state. 

The final removal of the county seat has brought to 
the people of Chester another benefit — the necessity of 

80 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

making trips with more or less frequency along the 
beautiful route through valley and over hill to Media. 
The charm of this trip to the town where Benjamin 
West was born gives such a good impression of inland 
scenery that an extension of the journey to West Ches- 
ter is an easy matter. This will be, approximately, 
over the same route as was taken in the days when 
Chester's citizens, indignant at the efforts to take away 
her precious county seat, sent an armed party to tear 
down the temporary jail and court house constructed 
at West Chester. 

From West Chester it will be difficult to resist the 
temptation to save a few miles by going directly over to 
the Lancaster pike. But this neighborhood should not 
be left until a bit more of the country to the southeast 
is seen. Let Marshallton be the first stop, for near the 
town, at Northbrook, Humphrey Marshall was born in 
1722. A tablet on a rock by the roadside, some distance 
from the birthplace, calls attention to the place where 
the author of the first American botanical treatise began 
his life. Another tablet marks his home at Marshallton, 
where he toiled to such purpose that he was able to 
call attention to the astonishingly varied flora of Chester 
County; this territory, but one-sixtieth of Pennsylvania, 
has within its borders more than fourteen hundred 
specimens of flowering plants, while the entire state has 
only about twenty-two hundred. 

About his home he lovingly tended a garden and an 
arboretum that were the admiration even of those who 
knew best the garden of Marshall's cousin, Jolm Bar- 
tram, in Kingsessing. The latter, though in a sadly 
neglected state, is a landmark to the left of the King's 
Highway, not far from the Blue Bell Tavern in Phila- 
delphia, on the banks of the Schuylkill. 

6 81 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Marshall's book, "Arbustum Americanum," was 
translated into a number of the languages of continental 
Europe, where the genius of the author was lauded by 
many savants. 

The name of the "gardener of Marshallton" should 
be remembered by every lover of trees, for he was 
really the first Pennsylvanian to advocate the very 
work that the State Department of Forestry is now 
doing so efficiently. In the preface of his book he made 
statements that must have had an odd sound to the 
residents of a state that was so well covered with pri- 
meval forests. Looking into the future he saw his 
beloved state "scored by the hand of man and swept 
nearly clear of the giant trees of the forest," and he 
expressed the hope that, "if one wishes to cultivate 
timber for economical purposes," he would turn to the 
pages of the "Arbustum" and "be informed about our 
valuable forest trees." 

Thus he was more than a century ahead of his time. 
But the day came when liis vision of desolation became 
actual, and the cultivation of trees was pushed with 
might. 

A short distance from Marshall's home, where there 
may still be seen a few remnants of the trees of his 
planting, the road crosses the sinuous Brandywine, one 
of whose admirers, Bayard Taylor, has written of it: 

"And once thy peaceful tide 
Was filled with life-blood from bold hearts and brave; 
And heroes on thy verdant margin died. 

The land they loved, to save. 

"These vales, so calm and still, 
Once saw the foeman's charge, — the bayonet's gleam; 
And heard the thunders roll from hill to hill, 

From morn till sunset's beam. 

82 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

"Yet in thy glorious beauty, now, 
Unchanged thou art as when War's clarion peal 
Rang o'er thy waves, and on yon green hill's brow 

Glittered the serried steel. 

"And still thy name shall be 
A watchword for the brave of Freedom's chime, 
And every patriot's heart will turn to thee, 

As in the olden time." 

Some distance down the stream lies the JBeld of 
Brandywine, where Washington made such spirited 
resistance to the British forces, and where Lafayette 
was wounded. The chief points of the historic field 
are plainly marked. 

When crossing the Brandywine one must also cross 
that remarkable bit of railroad construction, the Wil- 
mington and Northern — a system which follows the 
western Brandywine for more than fifty miles. W. W. 
MacElree, the Boswell of the Brandywine, has said of 
this road: 

"In the main it consists of a collection of curves: 
curves of low degree and high degree, harmonious and 
irregular, sinister and dextral, curves with functions, 
and curves without function, curves that find their 
expression in algebraic symbols, and curves which 
transcend the powers of mathematics to express them — 
all are here in profusion : parabolic forms for geometers 
and diabolic forms for passengers. Travelers taking the 
road for the first time have been heard to say there are 
no two consecutive points lying in the same direction 
from Wilmington to Reading. It is not unusual to find a 
passenger train occupying three of these curves, while a 
freight train often lengthens itself out over four or five. 
It is asserted that a great many of these were introduced 
for the purpose of enabling its passengers to see both 
sides of the road at the same time, but I have heard it 
maintained that the comfort of the passengers was not 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

considered at all, the aim of the engineers being rather 
to demonstrate that in railroad construction a straight 
line is unnecessary and useless." 

One thing is certain, however. A ride over the line 
furnishes a trip whose unusual features will be recalled 
with appreciation and delight, for it passes through 
the heart of one of the finest agricultural regions in the 
state, where Nature vies with herself to make the quiet 
beauty of one mile exceeded only hx that of the next mile. 

Southwest from the railroad of curves and the river 
of romance is the town where Bayard Taylor built his 
mansion Cedarcroft. Here he spent some of the pleas- 
antest years of his life. There Is little opportunity to 
wonder why he chose this spot after seeing the property, 
still the pride of the town. 

Once, when the wife of the poet-novelist journeyed 
to Cedarcroft, she wrote lines that are among the 
best available descriptions of Chester County scenery: 

"The countryside through which our primitive road 
led us after we had left the Delaware was so lovely, so 
idyllic, that I forgot how bad it was underfoot. We 
skirted hills and valleys, tilled land and green woods in 
changeful succession; hedged fields with here and there 
a single wide-branched tree casting its broad shadow, 
and meadows, through which a brook fringed with 
willows meandered along, where fine herds of cattle 
were grazing or resting in the lush herbage. Anon we 
passed gentle slopes overgro'UTi with bowers of foliage, 
of maple, sycamore, walnut, chestnut, locust, and sas- 
safras. Tangled thickets intwined with grapevines 
climbing to the treetop, and in dark hollows an exquisite 
wilderness of flowers and ferns ran riot. Nestled among 
sheltering clumps of trees the farmhouses lay scattered 
here and there, surrounded by orchards and barns which 
were often larger and more pretentious than the modest 
dwellings." 
84 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

And the writer was fresh from the charms of Europe! 

Some twenty miles after leaving Kennett Square on 
the road to Gap, one more of the delightful streams of 
Chester County is reached — the Octoraro. This sec- 
tion of the creek has long been a center of the fox- 
hunting sport. The hunters from the Rose Tree Hunt 
of Media have often ridden to Pine Hill, an eminence 
near Octoraro, a town to the left of the road — by the 
way, one of the oldest post offices in the country. An 
enthusiastic iox hunter who knows Pine Hill well once 
broke into rhyme as he thought of the sport: 

"And surely never yet was heard, 
From tongue of man, or throat of bird. 
From reed or tuba, or string or key, 
From all the craft of minstrelsy. 
More stirring, joy-inspiring sounds 
Than one such orchestra of hounds 
Pours o'er the listening land. 
As if the muses' sylvan powers 
Went choiring through the matin hours 
At Dian's fond command." 

Christiana, the last town before the Lancaster road 
is reached at Gap, is noted for something more serious 
than fox-hunting. A monument at the corner of the 
Pennsylvania railroad subway hints at the story of 
Edward Gorusch, Castner Hanway, and others who 
followed their lead. The time was 1851; the place was 
the humble house of an ex-slave, who was sheltering 
four fugitive slaves. WTien the marshall came he 
defied them. " There will be no slaves taken back from 
here while I am alive," were his words. One Mary- 
lander was killed in the melee that followed. 

The case became famous, not only in this country, 
but in Europe as well, for it was the first instance of 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

open resistance to the authorily of government in the 
anti-slavery agitation. 

Thirty-eight of those who resisted the officers were 
put on trial for treason, but all were eventually released. 
While some of them were in Moyamensing prison, 
Philadelphia, awaiting trial, John G. Whittier wrote 
his "Lines" to them: 

"God's ways seem dark, but soon or late 
They touch the shining hills of day. 
The evil cannot brook delay. 
The good can well afford to wait. 

Give ermined knaves their hour of crime; 
Ye have the future grand and great. 

The safe appeal of truth to time." 

A number of other Chester County towns were 
prominent in the great movement of aiding escaping 
slaves from the South to Canada. Kennett Square and 
West Chester as well as Christiana sheltered and passed 
on many of the refugees. Lancaster, too, was a point 
of importance on the remarkable and mysterious 
"underground railroad." 

There is characteristic Lancaster County landscape 
all the way from Gap to Elizabethtown, a town noted 
in the early days of the New Orleans trade for its 
boat-building activities, and later for the building 
of canal boats. Conewago Creek, which forms the 
northern boundary of Lancaster County, has supplied 
both power and access to the Susquehanna for these 
and other purposes. 

The approach to the Conewago is impressive. The 
road descends one hundred and twenty-five feet to the 
water, and again ascends after crossing the creek. The 
valley between the hills that define the fertile valley is 
four miles wide. 

SG 







AL()N(; SWATAHA CKKKK 
V\u>\i> by .1. Horace M.-Karhuul (■..ni,.aiiy 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

Near Middletown — so named because of its situation 
half way between Lancaster and Carlisle — the Sus- 
quehanna is first seen from this road. This, the oldest 
town in Dauphin County, has been prominent in the 
development of Pennsylvania because of its unique 
situation. During the Revolution a commissary boat 
was located here; supplies were sent by it to Wilkes- 
Barre for the use of General Sullivan's expedition 
against the Six Nations. There was also a lead refinery, 
used under direction of Congress for the preparation of 
ammunition for Washington. Later the Union canal, 
the first m the United States, was built down the Swa- 
tara, to connect with the Pennsylvania canal up the 
Susquehanna. 

If plans made by George Washington had been car- 
ried out Middletown would have been the hub of Penn- 
sylvania, at least so long as canals remained the chief 
means of freight transportation. In 1784, after an 
exhaustive investigation, he recommended to Governor 
Harris of Virginia a system of canals and river trans- 
portation of which Middletown was to be the center. 
The routes he outlined as desirable were: 

1. Up the Swatara to Philadelphia, by way of the 
Quitapahilla and the Schuylkill canal to Philadelphia. 
The distance would have been 140 miles. 

2. Middletown to Havre de Grace; 54 miles. 

3. To Pittsburgh, along the Juniata, and other 
streams; 285 miles. 

4. By way of Susquehanna, Sinnemahoning, and 
Allegheny, to Presque Isle (Erie); 420 miles. 

5. An alternative route to Presque Isle by the Alle- 
gheny; 421 miles. 

6. By North Branch of Susquehanna, the Tioga, and 
other streams to Lake Ontario; 382 miles. 

87 



SEEING rENNSYLVANIA 

7. To Otsego Lake; 351) miles. 

At that time Robert Fill I on shared with Washington 
enthnsiasm lor eanal buikliug. INlany limes the two 
exehanged ideas on the snl)jeet, and in 179C Fulton 
sent to Washington a copy of his "Treatise on the 
Improvement of Canal Navigation." On the title 
[)age he wrote: 

"I beg leave to present yon with this publication: 
Whieli I hoi)e will be honoured with your Perusal at a 
Leisure hour; the object of Which is to Exhibit the (Vr- 
tain ]\Tode of (iiving Agriculture to every acre of the 
immense (\)utinent of America; By means of a creative 
System of Canals." 

The measure of Fulton's startling program is revealed 
by the final chapter in the volume, written on blank 
pages, for Washington's eye only. Li this he proi)osed 
to make the horse path of the leading canals suihciently 
wide for a road for horsemen. In their passage the 
canals "would water the cities and towns, clens them 
of Filth and Sprinkle them in seasons of derth." Every 
farmer would be able to irrigate his land, and to have a 
private water wheel for the production of power to 
thresh, cut straw, break and clean flax, grind apples, 
mash turnips, wash, churn. In conclusion Fulton said: 

"Thus we See the Infinite Advantage to be derived 
from a Jiulicious use of the Streams which nature has 
lifted to our Mountains, Streams by which the demand 
for horses INIay be nuicli dinuTu'shed, and America Hen- 
dered Like one Continual (JardtMi of Which every 
Acre would JMaintain its Main Stream which would 
produce Abundance and everj' one of them having the 
Necessaries and Conveniences of Life AVithin their easy 
Reach would be Left to their discretion to Use them 
like Rational Beings." 

Little was destined to come of this wonderful vision 

88 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

of Lancaster CouDty's child, who, eleven years later, 
was to put on the Hudson a vessel that would show 
railroad builders the way to relegate canals to the 
background. But much of Washington's nior*- pruciira] 
program was realized, as a study of the rehef rnaj> of 
the state in this volume will show. 

Canal and river, railway and highway are side by 
side all the way from Middletown to Harrisburg. This 
bit of country has lostnone of its attractions since 1788, 
when John Perm wrote of it: 

"From the vast forest and the expansive bed of the 
river, navigable to its source for craft carrying two 
tons burden, the ideas of grandeur and immensity rush 
forcibly upon t?ie mind, mixed with the desert wildness 
of an uninhabited scene." 

But the wildness of the country was not to be to 
him an argument against this region, any more than it 
was to William Penn nearly a century earlier. Soon 
after Penn landed in Pennsylvania, he showed his 
desire to secure the title to the Susquehanna country. 
In 1G9G he succeeded in making a lease for one thousand 
years from Thomas Dongan, once governor of New 
York, the price being £lOO and armual rent of a *'pepper 
corn," if demanded. Later, absolute title was given 
by Dongan. The Delawares, who claimed an interest 
in the lands, transferred their title in 173G, yet it was 
1784 before all dispute to the ownership of the territory 
west of the Susquehanna was finally ended. 

Penn asked £5000 of John Harris, the first settler on 
the present site of Harrisburg, for all the land from the 
river to Silver Spring, and across the Cumberland 
Valley from mountain to mountain, but the bargain 
was concluded for £3000. 

John Harris was a trader, and the attraction for him 

89 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

was tlie Lidian village on the river. His son, John 
Harris, who laid out the town in 1784, lived the quiet 
life of a ferryman; the famous "Harris Ferry," which 
was mentioned as a candidate for the national capital, 
having been founded in 1753. The town became the 
county seat in 1785, and it was made the capital of the 
state in 1812, after a contest in which it won over 
Northumberland and Readmg by a single vote. 

John Harris may have been a trader, but money 
was not his idol. He was a thoroughgoing patriot. 
Although he was at first opposed to the passage of the 
Declaration of Independence, he and Mrs. Harris later 
lent the colony £3000 for the expenses of the war, 
making known the fact that they were ready to give 
the sum outright, if need be. 

Visitors to Harrisburg are tempted to agree with 
Mrs. Aiuiie Royall, who, in 1828, called the site of this 
city one of the most charming spots on the globe. She 
echoed the sentiments of Thomas Ashe, the traveler of 
1806, who declared that "the breadth and beauty of 
the river, the height and grandeur of its banks, the 
variety of scenery, the verdure of the forests, the mur- 
mur of the water, and the melody of the birds, all com- 
bined to fill my mind with vast and elevated thoughts." 

A walk along the river front, where there is a drive of 
which any city in the world might be proud, is a pleasure 
that should be long drawn out. Features in the pros- 
pect are the gracefully curving banks, the silvery sheet 
of water (a mile wide), the green islands, the tree- 
clad slope beyond, and the bridges, chief among them 
being that at Market street, a successor of the old 
wooden "camel-back" structure, begun in 1813. At the 
portal of this bridge stand two of the columns rescued 
from the fire that destroyed the old capitol in 1896. 

90 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

Next comes the natural park site of twelve acres, not 
far from the center of the city. From this the vista of 
river and mountain is a joy that is ever new. 

Then climb to the dome of the capitol. Look out on 
the broad Kittatinny Valley, in which the city is situ- 
ated by the river bank. See the Susquehanna sweeping 
to the northward, and on to the southeast. Follow the 
mountains that encircle the city, now close at hand, 
now farther away. Look off to the gap through 
which the river breaks a way through the Blue Moun- 
tains. Let the eye rest on the small islands that dot the 
river, and the larger Duncan's Island, where David 
Brainerd visited the Indians. Look across to the Cum- 
berland Valley, between the Conodoguinet and Yellow 
Breeches Creek. Yes, look, and look again, and say if 
it is not good to be alive in a world of which, when God 
had made it, he said that all was very good. 

Beauty is not left behind when the river is crossed 
and the road is taken down the Cumberland Valley 
tov/ard Carlisle. On the right, just at hand, are the 
graceful curves of the Conodoguinet. Farther to the 
right Is the seemingly endless ridge of the Blue Moun- 
tains. To the left are fertile farms. Every thing, every- 
where, gives emphatic testimony to the wisdom of the 
pioneers who braved the perils of the frontiers, to make 
their home In this favored valley. 

Along this road — the "great road" of the middle 
eighteenth century, which was made a turnpike in 
1813 — George Washington traveled in 1794, when he 
went to the West to put down the Whiskey Rebellion. 
And In 1863 an invading force from the South marched 
down the road toward Harrisburg, to Camp Hill, 
within sight of the city. 

Carlisle, too, had its experience during the same 

91 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

June week. Confederate cavalry entered the town and 
remained for three days. On July 1 the town was 
shelled, and when it refused to surrender the shelling 
was renewed, and much damage was done by fire. But 
the troops retired without taking possession. 

Revolutionary history also was made here. Three of 
the signers of the Declaration made their homes in 
Carlisle— George Ross, James Wilson, and Thomas 
Smith. Bullets and cannon were manufactured for the 
army, and officers were trained in a building long used 
as tlie Indian school, and— during the Great War — as a 
reconstruction hospital for invalid soldiers. This insti- 
tution, located near town, behind a high stone wall, on 
the highway to Shippensburg, looks out on the over- 
shadowing Blue Mountains. 

After the Revolution the town once again knew the 
tread of soldiers, for thirteen thousand men were quar- 
tered here in 1794, while Washington was making 
preparation to march against the misguided men who 
inspired the Whiskey Rebellion. 

But long before the days when Washington visited 
Carlisle armed men were a familiar sight. The early 
stockade, where twelve men made their headquarlers, 
was succeeded by Fort Louthler in 175i5; in this fifty 
men were on duty. That was the year of the treaty of 
friendship with the Ohio Indians, whose representa- 
tives came to the fort to meet the three commissioners 
of the colony, of whom Benjamin Franklin was one. 

In 17C4 Carlisle was the scene of one of the most 
affecting incidents of early Indian warfare. During 
that year the Indians sent here many captives, some of 
whom had been held for years. That these might be 
returned to their homes Colonel Bouquet sent word 
about the countryside that parents who had lost 

92 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

children in Indian raids should appear to identify them. 
Among those who applied was an eager old woman 
who told a movmg tale of a daughter whom the Indians 
had kept from her for many years. In vain she looked 
at all the released ca[)tives; in none of them could she 
recognize the features of her lost daughter. In her 
sorrow she told Colonel Bouquet that when her daughter 
was small she had been accustomed to sing to her a 
song that became a favorite with the child. 

"Suppose you sing it now!" the colonel suggested. 
With eager but faltering voice she did sing: 

"Alone, yet not alone, am I, 

Though in the solitude so drear; 
I find ray Saviour always nigh. 

He comes my dreary hours to cheer. " 

At the first note one of the unclaimed women started. 
An instant later she was on her feet. And before the 
last note was sung she rushed to the singer and cast 
herself into the arms that had been empty so long — 
the arms of her mother. The song learned in childhood 
had bridged the gap of years, 

Carlisle has other reminders of the heroic days of old 
than such incidents as that cited above. All about the 
town are places famous for their connection with the 
events of those days, as well as remarkable for the 
beauty that has survived and will survive. On the 
north is Wagner's Gap in the Blue Mountains, and on 
the northeast Sterrett's Gap provides a ready-made 
outlet for a roadway; while Carlisle Springs is within 
four miles of the city in the same direction. Southeast, 
on Yellow Breeches Creek, is Boiling Springs, whose 
bubbling water fascinated the Indians as it attracted 
the first settlers. On the banks of the Conodoguinet, 
not far away, is a remarkable limestone cave where 

93 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

generations of boys have explored, imagining marvelous 
adventures. 

From Newville a road leads eight miles north 
through Doubling Gap, which was used for the pass- 
age of an Indian trail, long before the coming of the 
white men. The gap is on the upper border of the 
interesting hairpin loop in the northern boundary of 
Cumberland County, made necessary by the unusual 
configuration of the mountain range at this point. 

Doubling Gap was one of the favorite haunts of 
David Lewis, the gentleman outlaw who roamed the 
country from Somerset to Carlisle in his search for 
victims — victims whom he would rob but would not 
kill ; he drew the line at bloodshed because of his uncom- 
fortable memories of the story of Cain and Abel, once 
read in his hearing when he was a lad. He has been 
compared to Sir Walter Scott's "Rob Roy," for he stole 
from the rich to give to the poor. For years efforts to 
catch him were in vain, because he could retire at will 
into some mountain fastness where no one was able to 
discover him. Yet the day of his capture came. The 
cave he used to seek above Doubling Gap when he was 
in his glory in 1815 has been filled up, and David 
Lewis, the outlaw, is a memory still used by unwise 
people to terrify the children. 

This Rob Roy of Cumberland County must often 
have haunted the old Three Mountain Road, This 
led from Shippensburg — except Y^ork, the oldest town 
in Pennsylvania west of the Susquehanna — to Fort 
Littleton in Fulton County. Eventually the pioneer 
road was extended to Pittsburgh, where it entered the 
city on the site of Penn avenue, leading to the foot of 
the hill where the Pennsylvania Railroad station now 
stands. 

94 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

Not far from Shippensburg, in the midst of a land- 
scape whose charms must always be a subject of de- 
lighted comment, was the home of Alexander Thom- 
son, a Scotchman. In 1771 he bought a farm on 
Conococheague Creek, where Scotland village now looks 
out on the valley. An English traveler who once visited 
him described his log cabin as a house "built of square 
blocks of wood, worked or indented in one another." 
Then he quoted from a letter written by the proprietor 
to a friend near his old home. This letter is evidence 
that the pioneers were not so occupied by the stern 
realities of daily life that they were unable to appreciate 
those common blessings money cannot buy: 

" While I and my son are clearing ground, and go for 
a while to walk or rest ourselves in the forest among 
the tall oaks on a summer day, the sight of the heavens 
and the smell of the air give me pleasure which I cannot 
tell you how great it is. When I sit down to rest, the 
breezes of the southwest wind, and the whispering noise 
it makes in the top of the trees, together with the fine 
smell of the plants and flowers, please us so exceedingly 
that we are almost enchanted, and unwilling to part 
with such a pleasure." 

Two pioneers of a different sort located in 1843 near 
Greencastle, some miles south of Chambersburg, at- 
tracted there by just such a scene of delight as that 
about Scotland. These men proved to be missionaries 
of the church of Latter Day Saints, and it was their 
purpose to lay the foundation of a colony of Mormons. 
A farm was bought on the banks of a tributary of the 
Conococheague, and two hundred settlers followed. A 
city and a temple were planned for the future, but for 
the time being a barn served as temple. A paper was 
even published at Greencastle. But financial diflSculties 
overtook the missionaries. They could not live on the 

95 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

beautiful scenery within the shadow of the Cove Moun- 
tains. When the mortgage on the farm was foreclosed 
they gathered up their possessions and stole away to 
the West. 

Originally Greencastle was called Conococheague 
Settlement. At the demand of the settlers who wished 
to market their produce in Baltimore, a road was laid 
out over the site of what became Waynesboro, through 
Nicolas's Gap in South Mountain, and on toward the 
East. 

Waynesboro, was named for " Mad Anthony " Wayne, 
under whom a son of the founder, John Wallace, served 
during the Revolution. The citizens of the town always 
have been proud of its location, and for this they can 
readily be excused. Surely they have a right to be 
proud of the unique composite of glen and ravine, of 
forested heights and sloping valley, of the winding 
Antietam Creek and the haughty mountain above them 
from whose height they secure the most satisfying vision 
of their great possessions. 

In the list of things that invite the Waynesboroites to 
spend much time out of doors are the limestone caverns 
all about the town. The largest of these is on the Mary- 
land line, a little more than a mile southeast. A subter- 
ranean stream adds mystery to the cavern. Then there 
is Nicolas's Gap, long the haunt of outlaws, where even 
to-day the Pennsylvania State Police need to keep their 
eyes open. Through the gap passes Mason and Dixon's 
line. This way led many of the Indian trails, and here 
scouting parties innumerable had their rendezvous. The 
engineers of the Western Maryland were glad to choose 
this pass for the construction of the line through a difBcult 
country, and the Tapeworm Railroad " wriggled hither- 
ward," in the expressive phrase of a local historian. 

96 




SluSVUEHANNA 
I'lK.to 1)V Stair 



Dciiaitii 



HAl£HI!SiUIIUi 

t of Forestry 




riJi:r into riii; \ ai.lkv. ciMiiKiti^ANi) cointy 

riioto l>.v Stal.- Dcpartincnt of Forestry 




THIO OM.V SUtMC TdLLHorSE ON THE NATIONAL H 1( . 1 1 U A 1 

STILL STANDIMi L\ I'EXNSYLVANLV, A'l' ADDISON 

l>lic>(i> l>y State Hiffliway l)c)iartiii.iil 




-■^^*t^'' 






OLD \ lAOrCT ACROSS TOMS (KEEK OX TAPEWORM UAILKOAD 

I'lmtchv State Depart lit of K..rer<tr\ 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

The Tapeworm Railroad (properly the Gettysburg 
Railroad) was Thaddeus Stevens's pet project. By it 
he hoped to connect with the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- 
road, and market the product of his iron furnace, farther 
north. He was a member of the state legislature, 
and he found it an easy matter to induce his fellow 
legislators to make appropriations for the road; at 
last, however, when nearly a million dollars had been 
swallowed up by the line, appropriations ceased. So 
Waynesboro was without a railroad until 1878, the 
year of the completion of the Mont Alto Railroad from 
Scotland. 

The situation of Waynesboro on the border made the 
town an easy mark for invaders from the South. Before 
the battle of Gettysburg, troops were in the town, and 
the people were compelled to furnish supplies to them. 
After the battle the retreating men were engaged near 
Waynesboro by the Army of the Potomac. 

The point where the road to Hagerstown crosses the 
Mason and Dixon line is about half way between Green- 
castle and the junction with the National Road. This 
historic line is marked by pillars. The original stones, 
brought by the surveyors from England, were a foot 
square, four feet and a half high, and weighed five hun- 
dred pounds. It is not strange that many of these 
stones were removed from their places during the long 
years between the first survey and the resurvey by 
Maryland and Delaware in 1900 and 1901. These 
recent surveyors searched for the missing stones and 
found many of them. "One was found as a door step; 
another was in a bake oven; two were in a foundation 
for a church." Whenever It was possible, the old stones 
were returned to their former location, 

Hagerstown is the first town on the National Road so 

7 97 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

justly famous in the early development of the Ohio 
Valley country. Although the section from Hagers- 
town to Cumberland, like that from Hagerstown to 
Baltimore, was not constructed by the United States, as 
was the section from Cumberland to Wlieeling, and the 
later section to Indianapolis, the entire route became 
known as the National Road because the roads from 
Baltimore already constructed were joined to and made 
a part of the work of the government engineers. 

The National Road, or the Cumberland Road, as it 
was often named, has been called "the longest straight 
road ever built in the world," since for seven hundred 
miles it "marks the course of the Star of Empire in 
the advance from the East to the West." 

Almost at once after leaving Hagerstown the reason 
becomes apparent for urging that, so far as scenery to 
the north is concerned, the next sixty miles of this turn- 
pike be considered a Pennsylvania road. To the right 
the eye has many a glimpse into the state to the north ; 
sometimes these glimpses become vistas of astounding 
extent and charm. As an instance, there is, from a 
hilltop five miles from Hagerstown, opportunity for 
such an alluring study of the windings of the Conoco- 
cheaguc (which flows the length of Franklin, the county 
of sparkling streams and cooling springs), that there is 
apt to be born a longing for the time when its course can 
be followed through all its windings. And why not? 
Think of a week's tramp from this point or, better, 
from the Potomac to a place near the source of the 
Conococheague ; then a cross-country, around-the- 
mountain ramble to the headwaters of Sherman's 
Creek; then along this stream the length of Perry 
County, to the Susquehanna, not far from the mouth 
of the Juniata! 

98 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

But now the National Road is calling — on from the 
hill overlooking the creek of many windings to Fairview 
Mountain and through the gap between the barrier and 
Boyd Mountain. From here, where the road ascends to 
a height of about one thousand feet, the way is through 
the mountains for sixty miles or more. 

Gradually the traveler approaches closer to the state 
line. Tonoloway Ridge is followed by Sideling Hill, 
perhaps the most dreaded of the ridges crossed by the 
emigrants who ventured this way before good roads 
were built. To-day one does not need to dread Side- 
ling Hill, though the grades are steep — in a mile and a 
half the ascent is seven hundred and sixty feet. But the 
steeper the grade the more comprehensive and varied 
the view is apt to be. 

Sideling Hill Creek is crossed by one of the monu- 
mental stone bridges that are so characteristic of this 
road, most of them bridges that date from the year 
when Henry Clay, then at the height of his fame, stood 
by the project for the National Road against all oppo- 
nents. The story is told of one of these old bridges that 
it resisted the fearful pressure of an immense steel 
truss, torn from its fastenings by a flood, until the 
steel was twisted into such a shape that the waters 
could force it through the arches. 

After crossing Polish Mountain the road descends to 
Flintstone, an ancient village in Warrior's Gap. Near 
by the Indians picked their way through the mountains 
into Pennsylvania, which is here but little more than a 
mile distant. At Cumberland, twelve miles farther on, 
the state line is five miles away. 

The contracts for the ten miles of road leading out of 
Cumberland were signed in 1811. The town was left 
behind by a route over Wills Mountain that corre- 

99 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

spondcd almost exactly to the track taken by Braddock 
in 1753; but more than twenty years later it was relo- 
cated through the Narrows, the passage at grade, along 
Wills Creek, through the mountain. This is a gorge that 
will stand out in the memory of those who have the 
privilege of passing through it — as will many other 
features of the next few miles, particularly St. John's 
Rock on Big Savage Mountain. This is a point of van- 
tage for a view of mountain scenery that is not excelled 
along the route, unless one goes to Dans Rock, on the 
top of Dans Mountain, seven miles southeast of Frost- 
burg, from which large parts of Pennsylvania, as well as 
of Maryland and West Virginia, can be seen. Robert 
Bruce, in his book, "The National Road," calls this 
"one of the finest views in the Appalachians." Unfor- 
tunately, as there is not yet a good road to the eminence, 
those who are able to enjoy the panorama spread out on 
a clear day are comparatively few. 

Little Savage Mountain comes next. This is crossed 
at a height almost as great as the loftiest point on the 
Lincoln Highway, many miles to the north. Following 
the mountain comes a remarkable bit of road-building, 
" the long stretch," as the traveler of early days called it. 
For two miles and a half there is not the slightest devia- 
tion from a straight line. 

Near the beginning of "the long stretch," Fishing 
Run is crossed, a creek worth noting because this is 
the first stream which the changing watershed turns 
northward toward the Monongahela. Waters crossed 
hitherto have turned toward the Atlantic. Then near 
the end of the stretch is Two Mile Run, not far from 
the spot where Braddock's Road crossed the route taken 
by the National Road. The hollow through whose center 
the creek flowed was dreaded by the pioneer wagoner, 
100 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

by reason of the dense pine forests, since cut away, 
which made the glen so dark that it was called "the 
shades of death." 

Castleman River is crossed by a fine stone arch 
bridge. This was Little Crossings of Braddock's day. 
A\1ien the unfortunate general passed the stream, the 
country was a famous hunting ground, where bear 
and elk and deer were numerous. On November 8, 
1751, Christopher Gist, who was making a journey to 
the Monongahela for the Ohio Company, wrote that he 
"killed several Deer, and Bears, and one large Elk." 

A tablet set in a rock on the right hand side of the 
road, just after it passes into Somerset County, Penn- 
sylvania, calls attention to the fact that this way went 
Washington and Braddock. 

It was in 1754 that Washington made the adven- 
turous passage of which Sparks says: 

"So many obstacles intervened that progress was 
slow. Trees were to be felled, bridges made, marshes 
filled up, and rocks removed. In the midst of 
these difficulties the provisions failed — the commis- 
sioners having neglected to fulfill their engagements — 
and there was great distress for lack of bread. At the 
Youghiogheny, where they were detained in construct- 
ing a bridge. Colonel Washington was told by the 
traders and Indians, that, except at one place, a passage 
might be had by water down that river. To ascertain 
this point — extremely advantageous if true — he em- 
barked in a canoe, with five men, on a tour of discovery, 
leaving the army under the command of a subordinate 
officer. His hopes were disappointed. After naviga- 
ting the river in his canoe more than thirty miles, 
encountering rocks and shoals, he passed between two 
mountains, and came to a fall that arrested his course. 
He returned, and the project of a conveyance by water 
was given up." 

101 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

The start for this vain canoe journey was at Con- 
fluence, not far from Addison, a httle town some 
distance beyond the state Hue, made noteworthy for 
the traveler by the curious stone toll house by the 
roadside, one of three toll houses still standing on the 
road in Pennsylvania. 

The crossing of the Youghiogheny at Somerfield has 
always been known as Big Crossings. It will be remem- 
bered that Castleman River, which enters the Y oughio- 
gheny not far north of Somerfield, was left behind at 
Little Crossings. By road it is not much more than 
twenty miles between the crossings, but by water the 
distance is more than twice as great. 

Perhaps it will not be thought strange that there was 
much uncertainty about spelling such a diflScult name 
as Youghiogheny. Christopher Gist called it Y^augh- 
aughanny, while Youghhannie, Y^ok-yo-gane, Y^aw- 
yaw-»gany, Yoh-w-gain, and Yox-i-'geny are other forms. 

On the far side of the substantial bridge at Big Cross- 
ings — one of whose walls carries a tablet calling atten- 
tion to Colonel Washington's passage of the stream a 
short distance beyond — the road passes into Fayette 
County. 

A succession of grades all the way from Somerfield to 
Farmington give vantage points for repeated studies 
of the rugged but fertile lands of southern Fayette. 

West of Farmington, between the fifty-second and 
fifty-third miletones are the fields of rolling green 
where Washington fought his first battle and made "his 
first and only surrender." This site he called the Great 
Meadows, and the fort which he built to oppose the 
advancing French he called Fort Necessity. A tablet 
on the site of the fort records the fact. Washington 
had four hundred men; nine hundred French regulars, 

102 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

together with their Indian aUies, opposed him. Yet he 
managed to hold out for nine hours against this superior 
force. 

Thirteen years after the surrender Washington 
became owner of three hundred acres including the site 
of Fort Necessity, paying for the tract less than one 
hundred dollars. He was still in possession of the land 
when he died. In his will he spoke of the tract as being 
worth six dollars per acr(\ Then he described it: 

" This land is valuable on account of its local situation. 
It afifords an exceeding good stand on Braddock's Road, 
from Fort Cumberland to Pittsburg; and besides a 
fertile soil, possesses a large quantity of natural meadow, 
fit for the scythe. It is distinguished by the appellation 
of the Great Meadows, where the first action with the 
French m 1754 was fought." 

Less than a year after Washington's defeat at Fort 
Necessity, General Braddock passed the site of the fort, 
on his way to Fort Du Quesne, where he was sure he 
would have a glorious victory. But a few days later, 
fatally wounded, he was carried by some of his men 
back to the Great Meadows. When he died his body 
was buried in the middle of the road and the wagons of 
the expedition were driven over the grave, lest the 
Indians should discover and desecrate it. Washington 
himself conducted the services of burial. In 1804 the 
body was taken up and reinterred a few rods away, 
near Braddock's Run, between the fifty-fourth and 
fifty-fifth milestones, only about a mile from Fort 
Necessity. 

In 1871, when the grave was marked only by an old 
stump, a Pittsburgh nurseryman who visited the spot 
decided to mark it by trees appropriately chosen. 
Because it was an English general who died fighting 

103 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

against the French intruder on American soil, he chose, 
first, two EngHsh ehns, two English larches, and two 
Norway spruces. All these were imported from Eng- 
land. Then came a weeping willow from the tomb of 
the first Napoleon at St. Helena, and a selection of 
American shrubbery. The trees, planted in a square 
about the grave, grew splendidly. Until a few years 
ago, surrounded by a board fence, they were a landmark. 
But in 1913 twenty-three acres, including the grave, 
were bought by the General Braddock Memorial 
Park Association, and a monument was erected on the 
site. The association was made up in great part of 
people from Uniontown and Fayette County. To-day 
the lines of Stephen Tilden are more true to fact than 
when they were written: 

"Beneath this stone brave Braddock lies. 
Who always hated cowardice, 
But fell a savage sacrifice. 

Amidst his Indian foes. 
I charge you, heroes of the ground. 
To guard the dark pavilion round, 
And keep oli' all obtruding sound. 

And cherish his repose." 

In this vicinity stood one of the most famous and 
most prosperous taverns of the staging days. It is 
recorded that in a single year the profits were $4000, 
and that on one morning seventy -two passengers took 
breakfast there. In the days when this inn was in 
its glory the turnpike " looked like the leading avenue 
of a great city rather than a road through rural dis- 
tricts." One man in 1848 counted one hundred and 
thirty-three six-horse teams passing along the road in 
one day, and took no notice of many more teams of 
one, two, three, and four horses. It looked "as if the 

104 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

whole earth was on the road — wagons, stages, horses, 
cattle, hogs, sheep, and turkeys without number." 

One Fayette County wagoner said that on a night 
when he stopped at a mountain inn there were thirty 
six-horse teams in the wagon yard, one hundred Ken- 
tucky mules in an adjacent lot, one thousand hogs in 
other enclosures, and as many fat cattle for Illinois 
in adjoining fields. 

Those were the days when the driver of the stage 
coach acted like a monarch. A traveler of 1848, in 
his history of the road, told of one coachman who, in 
passing an orchard, halted in spite of the protests of 
his passengers, climbed a " snake " fence, and proceeded 
to fill his pockets with apples. The impatient passen- 
gers called to him, but he i)aid no attention. So a man 
on the driver's seat urged the horses on. The driver 
pursued in vain: "The road was now on the side of 
Chestnut Ridge (six miles from Uniontown), and the 
descent was rapid. In a few minutes, when turning a 
curve, the coach swayed over, and fell down a precipice 
ten feet, almost perpendicular, rolling twenty feet fur- 
ther, till brought up by the trunk of a locust tree." 
There was half a day's delay. That night, when the 
stage reached its stopping place, beyond Uniontown, 
many of the passengers had black eyes and bandaged 
heads. 

One more tale of the road — a tale of the days before 
the way was made easy for stage drivers and wagoners 
to be monarchs. Near the sunmiit of Laurel Hill 
(Chestnut Ridge) John Slack had a tavern. When he 
learned that a new road was proi)osed, he was loud in 
his opposition. But in spite of his protestations the 
improvement was made. Later, when he was asked 
the reason for his opposition, he said: 

105 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

■^'Wagons coming up Laurel Hill would stick in the 
mud a mile or so below my house, when the drivers 
would unhitch, leave the wagon in the mud, and bring 
their teams to me and stay with me all night. In the 
morning they would return to their stranded wagons, 
dig and haul them out, and get back to my house and 
stay with me another night. Thus, counting the wagons 
going east and west, I got four nights' bills from the 
same set of wagons. Now the wagons whip by without 
stopping." 

But just as there were those who opposed the con- 
struction of the turnpike because they thought the 
improvement would be an injury to them, so there were 
those who fought the railroads, and for the same reason. 
When the railroads began to take away the traflSc from 
the road the wagoners had a song whose chorus was: 

"Now all ye jolly wagoners, 

who have got good wives, 
Go home to your farms, and there 

spend your lives; 
When your com is all cribbed, 

and your small grain is good, 
You'll have nothing to do but 

curse the railroad." 

There came a day, however, when the wagoners were 
called back from their farms for a brief renewal of their 
reign on the turnpike. Word was passed that there 
was a break in the Pennsylvania Canal, and that the 
whole system, including the Portage Railroad, was 
paralyzed. For a time all western freight had to go 
over the National Road in wagons. The news was 
brought to the scattered farms by the drivers of the 
stage coaches, and within a few days the road had re- 
sumed its old-time activity. 

After many years of comparative quiet the National 

106 




THE (IKEAT MEADOWS, WITH FORT NECESSITY OUTLINED 1\ CENTER 
I'lint.) l)v .Tames HikIcIci, 




\vashin(;t(^n s mill, owned hy vvashin(;ton at the time of his death. 

HUILT 1770 
Still standing, twelve miles nortli of I'niontown 
IMioto supplied by Dr. F. C. Robinson 




rri(Ki;v s most hiui><;k, iavkttk <(ir.\TV 
I'licto .■^iipplifd l.y KolxTt Bruce 





>.J»^lfc^!ai«l8»U«»>>!<0 



i-r 





I'hnio liy st.iti llifrliwa.N I)c])aitiiH-nt 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

Road is alive once again. Automobiles are so many that 
old roads have been opened and new hotels have been 
built. The most magnificent of them is the Summit 
Hotel, on the crest of Laurel Ridge. From this favored 
resort there is a glorious view of the Monongahela 
Valley. Tlie pleasure afforded by the survey of the 
countryside maybe prolonged with profit by a short 
side trip from the hotel to Washington Springs, a mile 
distant, and Jumonville, two miles farther on. Here 
Washington, a little before his disappointing defeat at 
Great Meadows, gained a slight success. Learning of 
the presence of a party of French under the leadership 
of Jumonville, he went with a few of his men to Wash- 
ington Springs, where he found a company of friendly 
Indians. Their counsel led him to seek Jumonville and 
attack him. The French leader was killed, as were sev- 
eral of his followers; the rest were captured. 

Now comes a bit of the road where the automobile is a 
hindrance rather than a help. To enjoy to the fullest 
extent the vistas that follow one after the other in start- 
ling variety, one should not ride down the three-'mile 
slope to the foot of the ridge; he should walk, and he 
should take from one to two hours to accomplish the 
descent — twelve hundred feet within three miles. Near 
the end of the grade is a bridge of unusual design, out 
of all proportion to the size of the stream crossed. This 
is the Turkey's Nest bridge, built in 1818, on a curve, 
with stone walls, massive but graceful. The trees on 
either hand, growing from the banks of the little stream, 
make the spot look like the work of a master of parkway 
construction and landscape gardening. 

If the National Road had been constructed as it was 
first planned, the traveler would have missed the satis- 
faction of seeing the country toward the Monongahela 

107 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

from Summit; lie would have missed Turkey's Nest, and 
he would have missed Uniontown. Originally the 
route was to have been more direct toward Wheeling, 
but when Pennsylvania gave permission for the con- 
struction of a part of the turnpike within her borders, 
the stipulation was made that the route shoidd be 
changed, if possible, so as to include Uniontown and 
Washington. 

To have missed Uniontown would have been a calam- 
ity, for it proved to be one of the chief points on the 
road, by reason both of interest and business. The 
tourists of to-day marvel at the city in its setting of 
green amid the hills; many of them know beforehand 
that Uniontown is an important center, but few are 
prepared to see one of the most pleasing cities in the 
state. The taste of the citizens is apparent on the 
streets, in the residences, in the business buildings. 

Times have changed since 1784, when General Eph- 
raim Douglass wrote from here to General James Irvin 
at Pittsburgh. He said of the settlement, then seventeen 
years old: 

'*This Uniontown is the most obscure spot on the 
face of the globe. I have been here seven or eight weeks 
without an opportunity of writing to the land of the 
living; and, though considerably south of you, so cold 
that a person not knowing the latitude would conclude 
we were placed near one of the Poles . . . The town 
and its appurtenances consist of ... a court-house 
and school-house in one, a mill, and consequently a 
miller, four taverns, three smith shops, five retail shops, 
two Tanyards, one sadler's shop, two hatters' shops, one 
mason, one cake woman, two widows and some maids. 
To which may be added a distillery. 

"I can say little of the country in general, but that it 
is very poor in everything but the soil, which is excel- 
lent, and that part contiguous to the town is really 

108 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

beautiful, being level and prettily situate, accommo- 
dated with good water and excellent meadow ground." 

But better days came. The settlers had freedom to 
develop the country and to care for their homes. The 
road was built, and with it arrived tens of thousands of 
brave men and women who did not falter at the pros- 
pect of going to the West, where they, too, would have 
some of the very problems that conspired to make life so 
difHcult for Fayette County folks in the days before the 
road went through. 

The number of emigrants and other travelers became 
so great at one time that a resident of Ilniontown ^Tote, 
"Scarcely an hour of the day passes when a stage coach 
may not be seen passing through the town." 

Stage coaches meant taverns, and Uniontown had a 
number of famous hostelries. There were also stage 
yards, where horses were changed and coach supplies 
were kept. In connection with one of these stage yards 
a story is told of Dr. John F. Braddee, a famous crim- 
inal whose case demanded the attention of the United 
States courts for some time. 

The doctor's medicine was in demand. Patients, it is 
said, came hundreds of miles to see him. At the trial it 
was stated that fifty horses had been seen around his 
office at one time. 

Yet the fees that came from his patients did not sat- 
isfy him. He wanted easier money. And he proceeded 
to get it. The sight of the mail bags carelessly thrown 
at the feet of the drivers of the coaches stirred his 
cupidity, and he laid his plans to get hold of some of 
them. 

First he bought the property next to Stockton's stage 
yard. This was a place much frequented, for at the 
time (1840) there were usually thirty coaches a day in 

109 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

either direction. Then he scraped acquaintance with 
one of the caretakers of the teams during their moments 
of pause in the town. When tlie time was ripe he pro- 
posed to the man to let him get hold of the mail bags, 
promising him an equal share in the profits. The prop- 
osition was accepted; the two men agreed to work 
together. 

Various methods were used. Sometimes the driver 
would leave behind, at the inn where he changed horses, 
one of the bags which be had reason to believe was the 
most valuable in his care. Again, the doctor would 
send a message after the driver. The man would bring 
back to him a bag which the driver conveniently 
dropped. 

The scheme might have been worked indefinitely, 
but the doctor failed to keep his word as to the division 
of profits. Detectives who were on the track of the cul- 
prit managed to secure possession of one of the two men 
who knew the doctor's secret. The trial was fiercely 
contested, but the criminal was convicted and sentenced 
to prison for ten years. 

From Uniontown to Brownsville there are a number 
of the dignified old stone taverns, some of which may 
have been, without the knowledge of the proprietors, 
scenes of the doctor's nefarious operations. Perhaps 
the most noted of these relics is the Searight House, six 
miles from Uniontown, at a crossroads, and on the 
north side of the pike. It is now the home of a great- 
grandson of the original proprietor, who was for a long 
time a commissioner charged with the upkeep of a sec- 
tion of the road. Another member of the family was 
Thomas B. Searight, the author of "The Old Pike," 
the most exhaustive of the books on the route. The 
body of Mr. Searight, who asked to be buried near the 

110 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

road in which he took so much dehght, was placed in 
Oak Grove Cemetery, a short distance west of Union- 
town, the grave being within sight of those who pass by. 

There is a combination of the old and the new at 
Brier Hill, Peter Colley's tavern, built in 1796, and 
the modern town, built up by the coke industry. The 
coke furnace here is one of the most important in the 
region. 

The short space from Brier Hill to Brownsville pro- 
vides a succession of satisfying views, the last of them 
the best of all — from Sandy Hollow over to the Monon- 
gahela River. The rapid descent (three hundred feet 
within two miles) increases road difficulties, but it adds 
decidedly to the pleasure of the trip. 

The last stop leads into the heart of Brownsville, one 
of the earliest settlements in western Pennsylvania. In 
pioneer days it was called Redstone Old Fort; and thus 
it was named on the tract laid out by Nemacolin from 
Winchester, Virginia, to the Ohio in 1749. Five years 
later Washington came this way. From here some of 
the troops of George Rogers Clark embarked for the 
Falls of the Ohio, where that far-seeing man had planned 
his expedition against the strongholds of the British in 
Indiana and Illinois. From here General Rufus Put- 
nam and his heroes, many of them survivors of the 
Revolutionary War, took boat, bound for the Ohio 
country and the founding of Marietta. Uncounted 
thousands of other emigrants preceded and followed 
him, Redstone Old Fort being the lure that beckoned 
them across the seemingly endless mountains with the 
promise that here, on the bosom of the Monongahela, 
would begin the last and easiest stage of the journey. 

Naturally boat-building early became a prominent 
industry here. The first flat-boat to descend the Ohio 

111 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

was constructed at Redstone Old Fort, while the first 
steamer on the Monongahela, the Enterprise, was 
launched here. This boat was also the first steamer 
to go from Pittsburgh to New Orleans and to return 
up the Mississippi. 

Redstone Old Fort was an old Indian fortification, no 
one knows how old, said to have stood on the left of the 
turn made by the pike as it seeks a parallel route with 
the river through the business section of Brownsville. 
In 1758, after the capture of Fort Du Quesne, a fort was 
built on this site, and this too was called Redstone Old 
Fort. Later the town that sprang up about the fort 
was called Brownsville, after the founder. 

In 1860 there was talk of reviving the historic and 
appropriate name of pioneer days. Bancroft, the his- 
torian, and many others who learned of the proposal, 
were delighted. Evidently, however, the preference of 
those most concerned was not consulted, for when the 
legislature acted favorably on the suggested change, 
there was such a united protest from the citizens of the 
town that "Brownsville" was restored to the atlas. 

Of the town's many distinctions not the least is that 
here the Whiskey Rebellion was born, and here it 
received its death-blow from the thoughtful citizens 
and others who came here at their invitation. July 27, 
1791, was the date of meeting when the organized 
trouble began. At that time an indignant company 
talked over their grievances. Why should they pay 
the new tax of fourpence per gallon on whiskey they 
distilled.'^ They could not use all the corn they raised, 
and there was no market for the remainder. They 
could not send it to the East as corn, but they could 
send it as whiskey; for, while a horse could carry but 
four bushels of corn over the mountains, he could carry 

112 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

twenty-four bushels in distilled form. Then was not 
the tax an invasion of personal liberty? 

These were the arguments presented that day, when 
it was decided to hold a larger meeting at Pittsburgh, 
on September 7. At the latter meeting so much resent- 
ment was stirred up that various sorts of disorder 
took place, including the capture of a revenue collector, 
who was not released until his hair had been cut and he 
had been tarred and feathered. 

For three years the trouble continued. At length, in 
1794, a committeee of sixty men met at Redstone Old 
Fort and decided to recommend submission to law. 
So, when Washington's army of fifteen thousand men 
approached, there was nothing for them to do but to 
return to the East. 

While the fort which gave the name to the old settle- 
ment has disappeared, there is another relic that bids 
fair to last yet many years — the iron bridge over 
Dunlap's Creek only a few rods before it enters the 
Monongahela. This, the first cast-iron bridge built 
west of the Allegheny Mountains, has an interesting 
history. A local historian says: 

"It is tradition that Henry Clay, on one of his jour- 
neys, overturned in the bed of the stream, and that he 
gathered himself up with the remark that Clay and 
mud should not be mixed in that place again. The 
rest of the story is that soon after his return to Wash- 
ington there came, unsolicited, the order for the iron 
span, carrying the road high above the stream." 

Until 1910 there was a second historic bridge at 
Brownsville, a covered structure, built in 1833, though 
not by the Government — the one exception to the rule 
that all bridges on the National Road were government 
bridges. This carried the turnpike across the Monon- 
8 113 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

gahela to West Brownville, the birthplace of James G. 
Blaine. In 1914 it was replaced by the present steel 
bridge. 

From the new bridge or from the heights above the 
town the Monongahela presents a spirited scene, espe- 
cially during seasons of high water, when the coal tows 
pass this way on the journey to Pittsburgh, the first 
stage in the longer voyage to Cincinnati, Louisville, and 
New Orleans. Locks and dams at frequent intervals 
facilitate the transport of the bituminous coal from 
the Uniontown field and from West Virginia mines. 

At West Brownsville the turnpike climbs the ridge 
that borders the river, and follows it for some distance. 
The prospect up stream to the bend, and beyond to the 
hills on the horizon, is not the least of the glories of 
Brownsville. 

It is difiicult to speak in any detail of the country 
from here to Washington. All the way the road leads 
along the ridges and into and out of the valleys. Fields 
and forest combine to make a series of landscapes that 
keep the traveler in an expectant attitude; he knows 
there must be something still better beyond, yet he 
wonders how there could be anything better. 

The man responsible for naming Scenery Hill — it is 
possible to see thirty miles to Laurel Ridge if the day 
be clear — showed his appreciation of the glory around 
him, and the ofiicials who chose the site for the tri- 
angulation station of the United States Geological 
Survey had an eye to beauty as well as to utility. 
Here the elevation is 1467 feet — the highest point 
between the Monongahela and the Ohio. 

Praise must be given also to the man who chose 
the site of Washington — Little Washington, as the 
town is affectionately called in western Pennsylvania. 

114 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

The distant view of this old college town claims the 
attention just after Laboratory is passed, and the eye 
cannot well leave it until the rapidly descending grade 
leads one into the heart of the classic streets, within 
two squares of Washington and Jefferson College, part 
of whose campus was once owned by George Washington. 
Of those days an early writer says : 

"No daily stage rattled along at the rate of ten miles 
an hour, no commodious Conestoga wagon, even, 
creaked along the road with its three tons of goods — 
no steamboats came up from New Orleans in two or 
three weeks' passage." 

During this period salt was the most precious com- 
modity, and it had to be brought from a long distance. 
Every family collected what could be obtained through- 
out the year: 

"In the fall, after seeding time, each family formed 
an association with some of its neighbors, for starting 
the little caravan. A master-driver was selected from 
among them. The horses were fitted out with pack- 
saddles. The bags provided for the conveyance of the 
salt were filled with feed for the horses. On the journey 
part of the feed was left at convenient places on the way 
down, to supply the return of the caravan . . . Each 
horse carried two bushels of alum salt, weighing eighty- 
four pounds the bushel. The common price of a bushel, 
at an early period, was a cow and a calf. Until weights 
were introduced, the salt was measured into the half- 
bushel by hand, as lightly as possible. No one was 
permitted to walk heavily over the floor while the 
operation was being performed." 

The Washington County pioneers for whom it was 
necessary to get produce to market in such primitive 
fashion found trying conditions still more diflBcult 
because of the uncertainty as to whether Pennsylvania 

115 



SEEING FENNSYLVANIA 

or Virginia had jurisdicliou ovor tlioiii. There were a 
number of reasons for Virginia's chiini to a part of the 
territory which is now inehided within the bounds of 
Pennsylvania. One of these grew out of the mistake 
made when ihe southern boundary of the northern 
colony was fixed by means of the "Circle Line" which 
is the northern boundary of Dehiware. According to 
the grant, this southern boundary was to begin where 
the circle drawn within a radius of twelve miles from 
New Castle should intersect the parallel marking 
forty degrees of north latitude. The two do not iuler- 
sect, however. So there were misuTulerstandings with 
iNFaryland as well as with Virginia. 

For some time before 1775 Virginia had been attempt- 
ing to govern the terrilorv claimed in Pcnnsvlvania. 
AVeslcrn Pcnnsvlvania had long been looked on as a 
part of Augusta County, but in 1775 the district of 
West Augusta was spoken of, and this was dividctl 
into the counties of Ohio, INIonongalia, and Yohogania. 
These counties included what are now Greene, Wash- 
iT\gton Fayette, Beaver, Allegheny, and Westmoreland 
counties. 

For some time the courts of West Augusta exercised 
authority over the territory, and the records show 
some curious things. For instance, there is the order 
"that the SheritY Imploy a Workman to build a 
Ducking Stool at the Confluence of the Ohio with the 
INIouongahela." 

At the call of Governor Patrick Henry of Virginia a 
council was held at Catfish Camp, the present site of 
Washington, to sec what could be done by the residents 
of the district for defense agahist the Indians. But 
when matters were talked over it was decided that 
neither Virginia nor Pennsylvania could be looked 

110 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

to for protectioD. Accordingly a peliLion was sent to 
Congress requesting the organization of "the Province 
and Government of Westsylvania," which should be 
the fourteenth province of the Confederation. Within 
its bounds should be a country about two hundred and 
forty miles long and seventy or eighty miles broad, 
from the mouth of the Sciolo to the summit of the 
Allegheny Mountains, "fertile and healthy even beyond 
a Credibility." 

The reasons for the request were appended to the 
petition. There could be neither security nor com- 
fort "whilst annexed to or dependent on any Province 
whose seat of Government is . . . four or five 
hundred miles distant and separated by a vast, exten- 
sive and almost impassable Tract of Mountains, by 
Nature itself formed and pointed out between this 
County and those below it." 

Congress took no action, probably for two reasons: 
Its attention was taken by the problems of the Revo- 
lution. Then nothing could be done until the Atlantic 
Colonies should cede to Congress their claims to western 
territory. This was not done until 1784. 

In the meantime the Virginia Assembly had made to 
Pennsylvania a proposition to compromise her claims to 
territory claimed by that colony, so as to include only 
the present Green, Fayette, and Washington counties, 
the latter in part. 

The matter was finally left, in 1779, to arbitration, 
when many propositions and counter-propositions 
were made. Pennsylvania offered to accept a large 
portion of West Virginia, south of Green and Fayette 
counties. Virginia proposed to concede part of the 
territory to the south, on condition that Pennsylvania 
would accept as western boundary a line exactly parallel 

117 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

with the windings of the Delaware, at every point five 
degrees from the corresponding point on the right 
bank of that river. 

At length the present western and southwestern 
Ijoundary was arranged, the famous Panhandle of West 
Virginia being provided for. 

Although Pennsylvania promptly ratified the agree- 
ment, Virginia delayed, in the meantime trying to 
dispose of certain lands on the Monongahela. For a 
time there was fear of violence. At length Congress 
interfered, and the vexed question was settled. 

George Washington was one of the landowners whose 
claim to western Pennsylvania lands was derived from 
Virginia. In 1774 he secured 2813 acres in Cecil and 
Mount Pleasant townships, north of Washington, on 
Miller's Run, a branch of Chartiers Creek — or, as 
W^ashington called it, "Shurtees Creek." On the land a 
number of settlers squatted. Washington's business 
representative tried to bring them to terms, and when 
he failed he advised that his employer visit the men in 
person. The visit was accordingly made in 1784. To 
those who had made homes on the land he offered to 
sell this for twenty-five shillings per acre, or to lease 
the property to them for 999 years. They said they 
would stand suit l^efore they vrould pay so much. Suit 
was therefore entered and judgment was given for 
Washington. Later the entire tract was sold for 
$12,000. 

AMien problems of government and land had been 
settled satisfactorily, the people of Washington County 
were ready to make internal improvements. A number 
of roads were built, but the talk of the National Road 
made them hungry for more. In 1808 it was learned 
that, while the route as far as Brownsville had been 

lis 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

decided on, it was not yet settled what should be the 
course from there to the Ohio River, Washington's 
determination to secure the pike was finally- successful, 
though for a while it looked as if a route several miles 
south of the town would be chosen. 

There is one curious connection between Washington 
and the turnpike that is not widely known. The drivers 
of the Conestoga wagons liked to smoke, and they 
wanted a cheap smoke. A cigar manufacturer of Wash- 
ington made an effort to supply the demand by rolling a 
long cigar which he could sell four for a cent. The new 
cigars became so popular vi'ith the men on the road that 
they were given the name Conestogas. That word 
was as long as the cigars, and it was soon shortened 
to "stogies," or "tobies." 

Through many years drivers of Conestogas filled their 
pockets with this special brand of long cigars and en- 
joyed them thoroughly on the rolling uplands that are so 
characteristic of the pike from W^ashington westward. 
The oil derricks are a modern growth; of the houses, 
many have changed, but the country is the same. 

So is the old S-bridge which leads across Buffalo 
Creek, six miles from Washington. It would be inter- 
esting to know the origin of the name as applied to this 
stream ; perhaps it was given in days when the coming 
of the buffalo to drink in its waters was not a mere 
memory. 

Claysville, a town named for Henrj^ Clay, and West 
Alexander are the last towns of importance in Pennsyl- 
vania. West Alexander is on a high hill overlooking a 
bit of the Panhandle of West Virginia. On the main 
street of the old town where beautiful \4ews of the 
surrounding country' are to be had for the gazing, is a 
tavern whose proprietor proudly shows the room in 

119 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

which the Marquis de Lafayette slept in 1825. The 
town was thirty years old when the French friend 
of America passed over the road — time enough to 
have given to it such suggestive nicknames as The 
Three Ridges, Hard Scrabble, Gretna Green, and 
Saints' Rest. 

No traveler can be content to go as far as West Alex- 
ander without going on to Wheeling. The distance is 
but twelve miles, but in this short space the pike affords 
one of its greatest treats — a ride through the narrow 
valley of Middle Wheeling Creek, where pike and trol- 
ley, creek and railroad dispute the passage at almost 
every one of the numerous turns. There are steep green 
slopes — first on one side, then on the other, then on both 
sides at once. There are chasms and gorges, and trib- 
utary runs which after a rain of only an hour or two may 
become raging torrents. There are bridges of a sort to 
make the modern stonemason look in wonder. There 
is — just before Middle Wheeling Creek enters Big 
Wheeling Creek at Elm Grove — the monument to 
Henry Clay on the lawn of the old Shepherd house 
where Clay and Webster, Andrew Jackson and James 
K. Polk, William Henry Harrison and General Houston 
were welcome guests. 

From Elm Grove to Wheeling is but six miles. From 
this metropolis of West Virginia the route chosen leads 
south, then west to Waynesburg, the county seat of 
Greene County. Soon after turning eastward Big 
Wheeling Creek is encountered. All the way to 
Waynesburg the country is not unlike that which the 
National Road traverses in Washington County — pleas- 
ing uplands and fertile valleys, rugged slopes and tree- 
clad summits. 

Waynesburg is most attractively located on Ten 

120 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

Mile Creek, whose valley is one of the notable scenic 
features of the county. Along this stream Indians 
prowled in the days when men and women who settled 
here took their lives in their hands. 

The town was named for General Anthony Wayne, 
an honor it shares with Waynesboro in Franklin County. 
Both towns chose the name Waynesburg, and in the 
contest between them for the retention of the name the 
Greene County town was successful. 

At one time it was thought the National Road would 
pass through Waynesburg. Though the route as finally 
fixed was to the north, Waynesburg was not deprived 
of a large amount of highway traffic. Through the 
town passed a road that was chosen by many drovers, 
in preference to the stone-surfaced pike, for driving 
herds of cattle toward the eastern markets. 

From Waynesburg north to Washington are two roads 
either of which leads through a region so alluring that 
one ought to take them both. At any rate he should 
walk leisurely along the mile that connects them at 
Waynesburg; from the ridge on which this road is loca- 
ted there is a panorama of farm and forest of such an 
impressive nature that one old man who enjoyed the 
walk just once, and that more than sixty years ago, 
has never forgotten what he saw. 

For a few years it looked very much as if Waynes- 
burg's only outlets to the outside world would continue 
to be the turnpikes. Once the Baltimore and Ohio 
Railway talked of building through Waynesburg, using 
the country to the west by the valley of Wheeling 
Creek. Opposition developed, however, from farmers 
and others who feared that the coming of the railroad 
might mean the loss of revenue secured from those 
whose flocks and herds used the highways. 

121 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Yet the day came when another road was proposed — 
to Washington, twenty miles distant in a direct hne. 
The easiest possible course would have been by the 
Chartiers Valley, but this route was opposed by the 
farmers who lived there. The railroad, therefore, found 
a wonderful route over the hills. This has been de- 
scribed humorously by a local historian, who told of a 
journey from Washington southward : 

"In passing over the road into Greene County for 
the first time, there is a constant cloud of uncertainty 
hovering over one. For a while he seems to be leaving 
Washington behind him, and he feels sure that in the 
scheduled time he will arrive in Waynesburg. But he 
has not gone many miles before the sun, which was full 
in his face at starting out, is now at his back, and he is 
haunted with the suspicion that he has taken the 
wrong train, and is on his way to Pittsburg. But while 
he casts an admiring glance at the landscape, changing 
at every instant, and presenting an endless variety of 
hill and valley and winding stream, he suddenly finds 
himself turned quite round, and he is making direct 
for Ohio, and begins to fear that he is on his way to the 
far West. But that solicitude has scarcely had time to 
get a lodgment before the train, by a miraculous trans- 
formation, is turned completely about, and is rushing on 
directly for the Delaware Water Gap. In his perplexity 
he is just upon the point of calling the conductor and 
inquiring where he is really going to, when the train 
pulls around, and seems to be making in the direction 
of his destination. . . . But all at once it starts 
off on a cruise, and when it has made the complete 
circle . . . Waynesburg breaks on the view. The 
road is indeed a marvel. 

*It wriggles in and it wriggles out, 
And leaves the matter still in doubt. 
Whether the man that made its track 
Was going out or coming back." 

122 



ROAD TO WHEELING AND PITTSBURGH 

This was in 1874, when the road was first built. It 
has been much straightened, but still it is a remarkably 
picturesque line. 

From Washington there is a road up the Chartiers 
Valley whose course is through the rolling lands to 
Canonsburg, the site of the first academy west of the 
Allegheny Mountains. A short distance northwest of 
the village are the lands so long owned by George 
Washington. 

The approach to Pittsburgh through the industrial 
section of southern Allegheny County is different from 
that afforded by any other road. The city itself is 
hidden until the last ridge is crossed. Then, from the 
height, there bursts on the vision that unrivaled 
panorama 

"Where the Monongahela's meet 
The Alleghany's waters fleet. 
And there the two th' Ohio make.'* 



ROUTE III 
FROM PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

BY WAY OF READING, HARRISBURG AND THE WILLIAM 
PENN HIGHWAY 
ABOUT 370 MILES 

In a curious old book called *' Historic Tales of Olden 
Times Concerning the Early Settlement and Progress 
of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania," published in 1832, 
wonder is expressed at the marvelous progress in 
methods of transportation to and from Philadelphia. 
The author says that his mother had often told him 
how, in days before the Revolution, the mail was 
brought to Penn's City by a postboy who rode on 
horseback. "A small affair then," is the comment; 
"now it requires a four-horse stage." 

In 1855 a reader of this volume penciled in the margin 
"And now! ! !" Whereupon another reader, in 1872, 
wrote in his turn, "And now again! ! !" 

Between the two scribblers who were so prodigal of 
their exclamation points came another who spoke of the 
tremendous strides made in the satisfaction of demands 
for increased transportation facilities. One day in 1861 
a venturesome traveler took what he called "the light- 
ning line" from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, making his 
start from the awesome depot at Eleventh and Market 
streets. But he was wordier than the man of 1855 who 
made such demands on the stock of what, in the print- 
ing office, are called "astonishers." For he said: 

"Then comes the tap of the bell — a rush of negro 
porters — a shout by the conductor, and the long line of 
mules apply themselves to their task, and, with a jerk 

124 




^^M-'-v^ 






l.\ .IK.NKl.NrOWX 
Photo from rijiladclphu. it Ht:i<liiit.' l{ailro;i<l 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

upon their iron chain, start the car on its journeyof three 
hundred and fifty-four miles to Pittsburg. Rather 
slow work, this mule locomotion, but allowable, as it 
only has to be borne during ten minutes, required to 
haul the train to the outer depot in West Philadel- 
phia ... As you rattle along at a dog trot, view 
the car in which you are ensconced, note the solidity 
and strength of its construction, and think of the care 
which was exercised to prepare the vehicle destined to 
carry thousands of miles in the course of the year." 

At last the great West Philadelphia depot was reached 
which "cost a power of money, and will last forever." 

Just so to-day it is a common thing to boast that the 
transportation equipment in which we take so much 
pride must be the last word in progress. And it is the 
last word — as surely as the postboy of 1776, the four- 
horse stage of 1832, the mule-power tramway of 1861, 
and the curious locomotive of 1872 were last words! 

What changes have taken place in the ways of the 
people since the never-changing hills that command the 
Schuylkill first looked down on the pioneers who ven- 
tured into the interior toward Norristown and Reading ! 
What stories the valley could tell of the years before the 
making of straw printing paper at Manayunk began the 
pollution of the crystal stream that led the shad to 
desert it; of the time when the green slopes of Laurel 
Hill were innocent of monumental stones; of the turning, 
at Norristown, of the first spade of earth for what it was 
hoped would prove the first public canal in the United 
States; of the heroic shivering during long winter 
months of W^ashington and his men on the beautiful 
hills and in the alluring glens of Valley Forge; of the 
hunting and trapping of Audubon along the winding 
Perkiomen; of the peaceful life of Muhlenberg at 
Trappe, where he trained a son who was to become one 

125 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

of the picturesque leaders of the Revolution; of the 
coming of John Potts to build his iron works at what is 
now Pottstown; of the sorrow of the Indians as they 
looked at the inroads of the settlers on the inviting 
lands along the broad reaches of the shining river or 
back among the hills from which such breath-taking 
visions of the valley may be secured. 

The charms of the Schuylkill Valley many times 
lured William Penn, as well as later scions of the Pro- 
prietor's family, from their seat at Philadelphia. Once 
William Penn lost his way among the hills overlooking 
the river, but he did not lose appreciation of their 
peculiar appeal. Many years later Thomas Penn fol- 
lowed the river up from Philadelphia, and called the 
region from Norristown to Reading "a very pleasant 
country.'* "The character of it is the beautiful," he 
added, "a little heightened in some places by the sub- 
lime. It is, indeed, perfect, especially as you approach 
the Schuylkill about Pottsgrove [Pottstown]. . . . 
The river adds to the beautiful disposition of the 
ground and to the picturesque form of the horizon." 
Later, in viewing the high hills toward Reading, he said 
that they made him think of "Pelion upon Ossa." 

Just as enthusiastic were the words of that later 
nature-lover. Bayard Taylor, who repeatedly made 
his way along the stream which the Indians called 
"Man-ai-unk." He had viewed the most notable 
places in Europe, but when he came to Reading, he 
said of the scene spread out before him : 

"Never had I seen or imagined anything so beautiful. 
The stately old town lay below, stretched at full length 
on an inclined plane, rising from the Schuylkill to the 
base of the mountain; the river, winding in abrupt 
curves, disclosed itself here and there through the 
126 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

landscape; hills of superb undulation rose and fell, in 
inter-locking lines, through the middle distance. . . . 
It was not ignorant admiration on my part, for one 
familiar with the grandest aspects of Nature must still 
confess that few towns on this side of the Atlantic are 
so nobly environed." 

When Thomas and Richard Penn encouraged the 
building of a town where ridges of the Blue Mountains 
cross the Schuylkill they decided to hold to their title 
to the ground. They knew that its productiveness, 
coupled with the beauty of the surroundings, would 
attract settlers. They were right. The town which 
began in 1748 with one house had one hundred and 
thirty dwellings in 1751, and it continued to grow rap- 
idly. Those who stand on Mount Penn, on whose 
slopes part of the city lies, and look away to the valley 
far below, will not find it difficult to understand the 
reason. On one side are the Forest Hills, then appears 
South Mountain, and finally, to the northeast, are the 
straggling Blue Mountains. Shut in by these encir- 
cling mountains is the delightful Tulpehocken Valley, 
stretching away toward Harrisburg. The meandering 
river makes its way from the nortli, while the Tulpe- 
hocken's course from the west is marked by the banks of 
vivid green and bordering trees whose branches bend 
protectingly over the stream, as well as over the old 
Union Canal. This artificial waterway united with the 
Schuylkill Canal, which followed its companion stream 
from Port Carbon to Philadelphia, as well as with the 
natural waterways of Berks County, to provide abun- 
dant transportation facilities and water power for the 
region. 

Power was needed, too, for the industries that early 
found congenial homes in this favored section. The 

127 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

chief of these industries was long the preparation and 
fashioning of iron. In early days there were as many as 
sixteen furnaces clinging to the various streams. In a 
number of these were made during the Revolution 
many of the cannon whose excellence led the British 
captain to ask a soldier: 

"Wliere do you get your big guns.^" 

"We make them," was the reply. 

"Where do you get your patterns.''" was the next 
question. 

"From Burgoyue at Saratoga!" the undaunted pris- 
oner responded. 

Even in the bustling surroundings of Reading there 
are so many quiet nooks that it is easy to picture the 
easy-going days when both canals were crowded by the 
slow-moving coal boats and passenger packets, and when 
on the roads stage coaches and postboys bade less lordly 
traffic keep out of the way. The weekly two-horse coach 
of 1780 required two days for the trip to Philadelphia. 

Gradually the demand for increased speed became 
greater, until, in 184'2, the valley was invaded by its 
first railroad, whose opening as far as Pottsville was 
celebrated by 2150 persons, who loaded themselves 
into 75 passenger cars, drawn by a single engine. The 
size of the cars may be judged from the fact that in 
a train following were 52 burden cars, which carried all 
of 180 tons of coal. For a long time after that day 
passengers realized that they were only an incident on 
the road; the distance between the tracks was too 
small to permit the running of regular passenger cars. 
When, at length, it became necessary to make provis- 
ion for the passengers who demanded transportation 
through the beautiful valley, a car of wonderful pro- 
portions was devised. On one side of the aisle were 
128 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

seats for two passengers, while on the other side but one 
traveler could be accommodated in each seat. Not 
until 1862 were the tracks separated enough for cars of 
ordinary construction. 

A passenger car is a good place from which to see the 
famous Tulpehocken Valley — that is, if a better vehicle 
cannot be found. One needs to be in the open, with the 
privilege of looking to right, to left, ahead, behind, and 
above if he expects^ such a richly endowed region as this 
to yield its secrets. The sweep across to the encircling 
mountains is too broad to be limited by the frame of a 
car window, and the valley is crossed too soon if the 
space is covered by the steady progress of an express 
train. In the garden of Berks County time is a neces- 
sity to one who would make the most of his opportunity 
of looking so that the picture will remain with him 
during days of toil when he is far from the valley's 
restful surroundings. 

Ten miles of green glory — glory of fertile field, of 
stately forest, of tree-clad hills near at hand and other 
hills receding into the dim distance! Then the eye 
rests on the buildings of the famous hospital at South 
Mountain where the state cares for hundreds of those 
who are called incurably insane. The location of the 
hospital has been admirably chosen, for, if anything 
could restore these people, surely such scenery as this 
in which they live should do the work. From every 
building, from all corners of the great farm, they drink 
in the beauty that gives calm and poise, quiet and 
repose. The managers of the hospital have taken the 
best means to make the surroundings effective; they 
provide regular work for all, and so they have been 
able to put to a real test the idea that a home like this 
should be made self-supi)orting. In their efforts they 

9 129 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

have been so successful that visitors from abroad have 
more than once found their way to this retired valley 
that they might learn the reason for the success of the 
South Mountain Hospital. When word of the results 
obtained here were carried across the water, the London 
Lancet wrote, "The example of Werners ville might 
with advantage be followed in a systematic way by 
institutions in Great Britain." 

Eyes that have long been lifted to the encircling hills 
are soon attracted to a roadside tablet erected to Conrad 
Weiser, Indian interpreter, whose old home stands a 
few rods from the tablet, back among the trees. 

When Conrad Weiser first saw the valley it was still 
in the hands of the Indian owTiers. In 1723 a party led 
by his ' father, John Weiser, floated down the Susque- 
hanna, then ascended the Swatara from Middletown. 
Their cattle they drove overland. Six years later Conrad 
made his home half a mile east of Womelsdorf . He had 
been there but two years when Shikellimy asked him to 
go to Philadelphia as interpreter. This was the first of 
many similar missions, for he gained and retained the 
confidence of both Indians and white men to such an 
extent that he soon became the accepted mediator 
between the races. 

The house by the Tulpehocken roadside gave evi- 
dence to the fact that the honesty and faithfulness of 
its owner did not make him popular with all about him. 
His capable services, as justice of the peace, angered 
some fellows of the baser sort. One night some of them 
approached the house, barred the windows and guarded 
the doors, then set a fire against the front entrance. A 
child, startled awake, gave the alarm, and the family 
managed to escape through a window that had not 
been barred as well as was thought. 

130 




VALLE"^' CKKEK. NEAR \ALI.EV F()K(iE 

Plict.i l.v Mi.-^s ]., A. Sampson 




ON THE KOAD TO VALLEY KOKCiE 
Photo by Miss I.. A. Sampson 




THE (lOLF CMTB AT WERXERSVILLE 
Plioto Ijy .1. Hiirarc McFarlarul Company 




OLD CORNWALL FURNACE 
'lic.t.. frnni Pliiladclphia & Keadiim Hailr. a.l 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

Treatment of this nature was an exception. In the 
province Weiser was so much appreciated that once, 
when he presented a bill for £36 18s 3d, for personal 
service, this was passed without question, and the 
sum of thirty pounds in addition was voted to him. 
The Indians, too — who called him Tarachawagon — 
honored him; they dreaded the day when he would 
be taken from them. "When he goes the long road," 
they said, "it will be time enough to look out for 
another. While he is here there is no room to complain." 

Whenever Tarachawagon had opportunity he liked 
to tramp over the corner of what is now Lebanon 
County, south of his home, to the gap in South Moun- 
tain. This way led the trail of his friends, the Indians, 
from their village of Shamokin (Sunbury) to the Penn 
treaty ground on the Delaware. From the summit on 
the left of the gap. Eagle's Peak, there may be secured a 
fine view of the valley to the north. This is certainly 
one of the finest views in the state. On March 22, 1755, 
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg climbed to this point of 
vantage. Later he spoke of the "splendid panorama for 
a distance of thirty miles . . . limited to the west 
and southwest by the Blue Moimtain chain." 

Not far from the gap is the town that boasts of hav- 
ing had the first water works in the United States. 
Since 1753 Schaefferstown has secured its water supply 
from a spring on the top of Tower Ilill. This is one of 
the heights in the neighborhood which afford prospects 
that cannot be forgotten. From Cemetery Hill there 
is spread out a typical agricultural view — probably 
just such a view as Emerson had in mind when he wrote 
of a charming landscape, "indubitably made up of 
some twenty or thirty farms. Miller owns this field, 
Locke that, and Manning the woodland beyond. But 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

none of them owns the landscape . . . This is the 
best part of these men's farms, yet to this their land 
deeds give them no title." It will add to the enjoyment 
of a trip through this country if preparation is made 
by reading Emerson's essay, "Nature." 

Not far away are the famous Elizabeth furnaces, 
where guns and ammunition were made during the 
Revolution; while further to the west are the great 
Cornwall ore banks. These have been called the great 
metallic curiosity of the state. But they are more than 
a curiosity; they contain the most extensive deposits of 
iron ore east of the Mississippi and south of the Great 
Lakes. They are located on knobs of South Mountain, 
Grassy Hill, Middle Hill, and Big Hill. Here, too, guns 
and ammunition were made for Washington's army. 

Cornwall Furnace dates from 1742, and Colebrook 
Furnace, six miles to the southwest, was opened in 
1781. Their location has been celebrated in the lines: 

"Colebrook Furnace in Cornwall stands. 
Crouched at the foot of the iron lands.'* 

On a spur of South Mountain is Mt. Gretna, the 
beautiful resort of the Pennsylvania National Guard, 
whose commanding situation and pleasing surround- 
ings have made it famous. 

It is a temptation to go on over the line into Lancas- 
ter County, and visit Manheim and Lititz and Ephrata, 
towns that glory in the stories of sturdy pioneers and 
strange sects, then on to the valley of the Conestoga. 
But the call is heard to go back to the direct road to 
Harrisburg, at Lebanon, where old houses compete 
with the surrounding mountains for the attention of the 
traveler. The mountains are apt to win, especially if 
it is possible to go north far enough to see the gap of 

132 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

the Swatara, another of the landmarks of the Indian 
path to Shamokm. One of the attractions of this 
region for the red man was the beautiful cascade, a few 
miles north of the gap. Still farther on there is a ridge 
from which it is possible to look southwest to the 
Susquehanna Gap near Harrisburg, as well as north to 
Swatara Gap. These gaps are proportioned in size to 
the streams that pass through them, but both compel 
attention without regard to their size. The command- 
ing height from which they are visible was resorted to 
by the Indians when they wished to display their signal 
fires to their tribesmen and their allies in time of 
danger. Another height favored by the Indians was 
Bunker Hill, near the Swatara, some seven miles from 
Lebanon. 

The road to Harrisburg crosses the Swatara at Her- 
shey, the model milk chocolate town, where, through 
the efforts of the company, the banks of the stream have 
been beautified, schools have been improved in a marked 
manner, and many farms have been bought that the 
milk supply for the families of the factory workers 
might be made pure. 

Not long after the Swatara has been left behind the 
ever glorious Susquehanna greets the eye. This is the 
stream which Alexander Wilson apostrophized in 1804: 

"Hail, charming river, pure transparent flood! 
Unstained by noxious swamps or choking mud; 
Thundering through broken rocks in whirling foam; 
Or pleased o'er beach of glittering sand to roam; 
Green be thy banks, sweet forest- wandering stream ! 
Still may thy waves with finny treasures teem; 
The silvery shad and salmon crowd thy shores. 
Thy tall woods echoing to the sounding oars; 
On thy swol'n bosom floating piles appear. 
Filled with the harvest of our rich frontier: 

133 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Thy pine-browed cliffs, thy deep romantic vales, 
Where wolves now wander, and the panther wails, 
Wliere, at long intervals, the hut forlorn 
Peeps from the verdure of embowering corn. 
In future time (nor distant far the day) 
Shall glow with crowded towns and villas gay; 
Unnumbered keels thy deepened course divide; 
And airy arches pompously bestride; 
The domes of Science and Religion rise. 
And millions swarm where now a forest lies." 

When John Harris came to the banks of the Sus- 
quehanna he too felt the prophetic impulse. "This 
spot of ground seems destined by Nature for the seat 
of a town," he wrote. So he laid the foundation of 
Harrisburg, attracted by the healthy, pleasant, high 
situation, "the easy connection by water with a great 
part of the country," and the situation "on the main 
road through the Continent." 

There are few finer river prospects in the state than 
that gained from the great stone bridge at Rockville, 
five miles from Harrisburg, where the Pennsylvania 
Railroad crosses to the right bank. Both up and down 
stream the view is marvelous. 

At this point the Blue Mountains, the first of the 
Alleghenies, are entered through tlie portal of Rock- 
ville Gap. And for nearly two hundred miles the 
traveler by this route will continue to pass through 
and over the mountains. All the way from Harrisburg 
to Blairsville there is — except when the summit is 
crossed — a continuous chain of gaps where watercourses 
seek a way through the mountains. Both railroad and 
turnpike follow closely the picturesque windings of the 
streams, first the Juniata, then the Little Juniata, then, 
after an interval of summit conquest, the Conemaugh. 

Perhaps the Rockville Gap is not so Impressive as 

134 



^> 




NEAR RUTHERFORD 
Photo by J. Horar-e MrFarland C'ornpiiiiy 




HO'KXUAA: HKIUdE OVER THE SLSQUEHANNA, NEAR HAJtKlSHlRCi 
Photo by .1. Horace McFarland Company 




riii; K.w iNh: 



('(>\K l'()K( 
I'll..!,. I)v .1. 



\l..\H THK \I()I 111 
ii-H-.' McFurhiiid CoMii 



I)F THIO .If MAT A 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

other gaps which follow in rapid succession; the river is 
nearly a mile wide at this point. But the stream is 
much narrower at Dauphin, where is the gap through 
Second Mountain, and as a result the opening seems 
much more majestic. A few miles farther on, near 
Duncannon, is still another gap that can best be seen 
from a point below the town. A spur of the mountain 
here is called Profile Rock, because of its resemblance 
to a human face. 

Beyond Duncannon the broad river makes room for 
fertile Duncan's Island, or " Juneata Island," as David 
Brainerd called it in 1745 when he visited the Indian 
village here. The devoted missionary agreed with 
later visitors as to the wondrous beauty of the sur- 
roundings, but he turned sadly away from the In- 
dians because even his optimism was dismayed by the 
heathenish practices which seemed the more awful be- 
cause of the favored locality they had chosen for a 
home. 

Duncan Island marks the point where the Juniata 
mingles its mountain-tossed waters with those of the 
Susquehanna. From here the route is never far from 
the stream which inspired the song: 

"Wild roved an Indian girl, 
Bright Alfarata, 
Where sweep the waters 

Of the blue Juniata, 
Swift as an anteloi)e 

Through the forest going. 
Loose were her jetty locks 
In wavy tresses flowing. 

"Gay was the mountain song 
Of bright Alfarata — 
Where sweep the waters 

135 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Of the blue Juniata. 
Strong and true my arrows are, 

In my painted quiver — 
Swift goes my light canoe, 

A-down the rapid river." 

The triangle between the rivers, the northeast por- 
tion of Perry County, is a region most surprisingly 
picturesque. From the railroad this triangle is seen 
from one side, while the turnpike traveler looks from 
the other side. Perhaps those who choose the high- 
way have the better view, for they follow the Susque- 
hanna as it breaks through the barriers of the Cove 
Mountain. 

One of the most noteworthy of the covered bridges 
for which Pennsylvania is remarkable is just west of 
Duncannon, the Juniata covered bridge, which has 
eleven piers. From this bridge the eye leaps to what 
is perhaps the most pleasing of the many knobs along 
the bank; from one point of view this is almost a perfect 
pyramid. Like many more of the eminences above the 
river, this does not crowd closely upon the bank. A 
few miles farther on, however, at Millerstown, the last 
town in Perry County, the mountains press close on 
either bank, forming the Tuscarora Gap. Here there 
seems to be scarcely room for the railway, the river, 
and the canal. 

In the days when the canal was in its glory there 
was a pool below Millerstown formed by a state dam 
in the river. On this pool boats passed "by means of 
an endless rope stretched across the river and passing 
round a large pulley on the canal side." When a signal 
was given, one of the pulleys was turned by water 
power; this put in motion the rope and the boat attached 
to the rope was moved in its turn. This was one of the 

13G 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

interesting sights of travel by canal that led N. P. 
Willis to write, in 1840: 

"Of all the modes of traveling in America, the least 
popular — and the most delightful, to our thinking — is 
traveling on the canal. The packet-boats are long 
drawing-rooms, where one dines, sleeps, reads, lolls, or 
looks out of the window; and, if in want of exercise, 
may at any time get a quick walk on the tow-path, 
and all this without perceptible motion, jar, or sound 
of steam ... It is always a reasonable query to any, 
except a business traveller, whether the saving of time 
and fatigue in the wonderful improvements of locomo- 
tion is an equivalent for the loss of rough adventure 
and knowledge of the details of a country acquired 
by hardship and delay. Contrast the journey over a 
railroad at a pace of fifteen [!] mUes in the hour, 
through the rough, the picturesque valley of the Sus- 
quehanna, with a journey over the same ground ninety 
years ago." 

In 1836 a passenger who knew how to enjoy the 
leisurely canal boat told of his joy in seeing the country 
from the mouth of the Juniata to Lewistown : 

*' We had reached a most romantic region, having the 
Juniata and the ever-changing scenery of its bold and 
picturesque banks constantly in view; now swelling 
into gentle hills, partly in culture and partly in woods; 
now rising abruptly into mountains, whose primeval 
forests seemed untrod by man; now subsiding into little 
plains and valleys occupied by villages and towns." 

But not all canal-boat travelers were ready to enjoy 
these privileges. One early author lamented: 

"Great men of steam and iron, Thomson, Stockton, 
Stevens, what do we not owe you for lifting us out of 
the miseries of packet-boat travelling! What boots it, 
that the railroad car does seize upon its victims and 
carry them ofT.'^ What boots it that the locomotive, 
bisecting the orchard, cutting up the garden, ruining 

137 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

the village-green, narrowly escaping the grave-yard, 
shrieks in sermon-lime, startles the calves in the midst 
of Windham, crushes a 'good-bye' under its iron wheels, 
and puffs a sob into profound silence? People dream 
it thunders, when the train is coming; fancy the wind is 
rising, when the train is going; the clocks are all set, 
not by innnemorial noon-marks, but by train, and every- 
body obeys the sign at the 'crossing,' and 'looks out for 
the cars' when the bell rings." 

The road toward Pittsburgh, along which the Juniata 
canal once carried the tourist, next leads across one of 
the lozenge-shaped counties which at once attract the 
eye as one glances at the map of Pennsylvania. This 
peculiar shape is due to the configuration of the land; 
in each county there is a long valley, shut in by parallel 
ridges of mountains. The geologist says that originally 
these long valleys were much wider; after the Appala- 
chian region of Pennsylvania was thrust up, it was 
subject to crushing and compression until "a tract of 
the earth's surface measuring originally one hundred 
and fifty -three miles from southeast to northwest" 
became but sixty-four miles wide. In one place ninety- 
five miles have been compressed into sixteen miles. 
Juniata County has been compressed in this way; the 
land is all there as in ages long gone, but much of it is 
in the shape of mountains instead of valley. 

The lengLli of Juniata County is about forty miles, 
but the average width is but nine miles. The Tuscarora 
and Shade mountains enclose the valley of Tuscarora 
Creek, whose lands are so fertile that an early historian, 
after telling of vain search for a fabled silver mine in the 
county, said, "The best mines to get opened in Juniata 
County are on those lands that yield twenty-eight or 
thirty bushels of wheat to the acre." 

Bordering on these central mountain counties are 

13S 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

long mountain ridges in which there is hardly a break. 
Communication has always been along the central 
valleys, except where the Juniata has shown the way lo 
the railroad to move in a circuitous course from east to 
west, between the broken mountains, many of whose 
tree-clad slopes are cared for by the Department of 
Forestry. 

Interest attaches to the trip of Philip Fithian along 
the Tuscarora Valley in 1775. He spoke of it as "a 
most stony valley; two mountains on every side. The 
passage is so narrow that you may take a stone in your 
right hand and another in your left and throw each 
upon a mountain, and they are each so high that they 
obscure more than half of the horizon," 

One day Fithian sat on the banks of the Juniata 
and wrote: 

"Fair genius of the water, wilt not thou, in some 
future time, be a vast, pleasant, and very populous 
country? Are not many large towns to be raised on 
these shady banks? I seem to wish to be transferred 
forward only one century, dreat God! America will 
surprise the world!" 

Mifflintown is the delightfully situated county seat 
of Juniata County, though it is natural to think of it as a 
Mifflin County town. Once it was, but the division of 
the county carried it along to its new neighbor. From 
Mifflintown toLewistown the Juniata breaks through a 
succession of mountains, some of tliem rugged and high. 
In Lewistown Narrows, once known as Long Narrows, 
Black Mountain and Shade Mountain rise to a height 
of about one thousand feet above the river — "the brave 
little river," as Ex-Governor Brumbaugh once called it, 
because, "instead of winding its way toward the Sus- 
quehanna around the high mountains," it "breaks its 

139 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

way through thirteen separate mountain ranges between 
Huntingdon and Juniata Bridge." 

Lewistown Narrows is a gorge four miles long. From 
here through the entire length of the country the river 
flows through a valley so fertile and so wonderfully 
beautiful that it has been compared to the Wyoming 
Valley. At the lower end of this valley the stream 
makes a sharp turn to the west and enters Hunting- 
don County through a gap whose attractions are known 
to comparatively few, because it is so far from the 
ordinary routes of travel. Just beyond the gap the 
winding Raystown Branch enters the parent stream 
from the south. 

The windings of the river find fitting company in the 
strangely angular western boundary of Mifflin County. 
The zigzags are a reminder of the dispute among the 
early settlers. Huntingdon claimed the lower section of 
Mifflin County, but the claim was stoutly resisted, even 
to the arrest of the sheriff of Huntingdon County when he 
attempted to serve processes in the debated territory. 

The first settlers came the length of the county, after 
crossing the mountains from the Conococheague Valley 
in Franklin County, and made their home on the present 
site of Lewistown, induced, no doubt, by the exceedingly 
attractive location on the ground that rises from the 
river toward the hills to the north. One who takes in 
the prospect of the valley from these hills cannot 
wonder at the choice of the pioneers. 

Just above the settlement stood Fort Granville, where 
a garrison protected the settlement. A year after their 
arrival, during the harvest of 1756, the garrison was 
guarding the men in the grain fields, when the Indians 
approached the fort by means of the Juniata and a 
convenient ravine and succeeded in capturing it and, 

uo 




Ifli-; KiiAI) lO Mlhl'LIX row \ 
I'll. ltd t)y Stall- llif-'liuMV Dcpartini.iit 







AL()N(; THE .MM \ I \ 
I'lioto 1)\- state Highway 1 )cpai tinriil 



JACK .■^ NAUUOWS, FKO.M Mdl \. I .11,;. 

I'lintn hy Stafi' Di-i )ii il ri ic lit (il Kiircstry 




.ri NIATA KIVEK, MIFFLIN COIINTV 

riintd by State Depart iiitiit of Forestry 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

later, taking many prisoners. Twelve years passed 
before the treaty of Fort Stanwix made renewal of the 
settlement safe. 

A few years after this new settlement at Lewistown, 
an English emigrant wrote home enthusiastically: 

"This is the best part of the Country that I 
have Ever seen for industrious People of Every 
Trade . . . This is a fearful Country for wild Creatures, 
such as Dears, Bars, Wolves, and Panters, the Dears 
meet yoused for Beef or Venison, and Bears Meet good 
Bacon. Fishes in Great plenty. This is a fine Country 
for Roots and Vegetales. I shall send you a small ac- 
count of them. Cow cumbers. Water Mellens, Squashes 
and Pompcans, with a variety of Beanes, such as ye 
have none in England, with others too tedis to Name. 
All rises from the Ground without much troble and 
come to Great perfection." 

This settler might have written of another crop that 
grew plentifully in the streets of the Lewistown of 
his day — stumps. These were so plentiful that the 
recognized fine for drunkenness was the digging up of a 
stump. It is said that a ravine near the center of the 
town was filled with stumps pulled in this way. 

LewIstowTi is surrounded by scenes of grandeur. 
Not content with the valley to the south and the 
Narrows to the east, the town has, several miles north, 
the rocky gorge of Jack's Creek. This leads to a valley 
girdled by hills. Still farther on are the Seven Moun- 
tains, with Milliken's High Top last of all. Kishaco- 
quillas Valley stretches off to the west. To make the 
picture complete, there is Jack's Mountain to the 
southwest, followed by ridges that reach as far as the 
eye can see. 

In the midst of these attractions is Reedsville, 
situated at the point where the William Penn Highway 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

makes a sharp turn on itself, famous as the location of 
the spring which was one of Chief Logan's favorite 
resorts. Logan, who was named for James Logan of 
Philadelphia, was a son of Shikellimy, of Shamokin, 
and was a stanch friend of the settlers. Once he made 
his boast, "I appeal to any white man to say, if ever 
he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not 
meat; if ever he came cold, and he clothed him not." 

James Reed, the founder of Reedsville, once had a 
narrow escape from killing this friend of the white man. 
He was at the spring, drinking, when he saw the reflec- 
tion of an Indian in the water. Quickly he sprang for 
his rifle, but Logan made himself known in time. 

North of Reedsville is the most famous of the many 
limestone caves in Mifflin County — Naginey Cave. 
This, as an enthusiast has said, ranks with the caverns 
of Virginia and the Wyandot Cave of Indiana, and 
surpasses others in Pennsylvania, except Penn's Cavern 
in Center County. It is said that Edgar Allan Poe 
once visited it and was delighted with the beauty of 
its interior. He also visited Winegartner's Cove, a 
sink in the hill back of the cave where ice has been 
known to remain throughout the summer. 

Each mountain, valley, cove, and stream of all this 
highland territory has its story to tell of the Indians 
who roamed here in the days of long ago. Mount 
Union, for instance, is proud of the fact that Nit-a-nee 
the beautiful Indian girl, is said to have lived near the 
present site of that picturesque town on the banks of 
the Juniata. For her the Nittany Mountains and the 
Nittany Valley in Center County were named. To 
this country the people of her chieftain father were 
driven by Indians from the South, who succeeded in 
conquering the people of Nit-a-nee only after they had 

142 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

made spirited and long-continued defence of the haunts 
in which tliey dehghted. 

Mount Union is notable because it is at the entrance 
to Jack's Narrows, the gap in the mountains of which 
the Juniata takes advantage for its passage through 
Jack's Mountain. Originally the name of this great 
gorge was Jack Anderson's Narrows, so named for 
an early trader who was killed here by the Indians. 

More fortunate were two later travelers, who came 
this way in 1754, Conrad Weiser and John Harris. 
They came from the South through a wild country. A 
pleasant day may be spent in following the trail, past 
Trough Spring, some twelve miles southeast of Mount 
Union, the majestic Shade Gap in the Shade Mountains, 
where a branch of Aughwick Creek steals through (in 
that day this was called "The Shadow of Death)", the 
Black Log, near Orbisonia, the Three Springs, not far 
from the borough so named to-day, and Aughwick, on 
the present site of Shirlcysburg. Ordinarily a list of 
names means little, but in this instance even the names 
give an invitation to take the prolonged ramble out- 
lined through some of' the most majestic regions of 
Huntingdon, a county that lies entirely within the 
mountains. 

Four years after Harris and W( is(T made their his- 
toric trij), Richard Bard and his wife caiiu; this way 
from their home in Adams ('oimty, l)ut not willingly. 
They were captives in Ihe hands of the Indians. After 
crossing the Tuscarora Mountains into Huntingdon 
County, Bard succeeded in escaping. On his return to 
civilization, in eighty -eight stanzas of awful construc- 
tion he told the story of his enforced journey, his 
escape, and his reflections. This poem of pioneer days 
should be read as a whole. Here are a few samples : 

143 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

"On a woeful day the heathen came, 
And did us captive make: 
And then the miseries commenced, 
Of which we did partake . . . 

"At three roods distance from a run, 
Encamped the night are we: 
But when for drink they do me send 
No more they sec of me. 

"Ahis! for me to go 'tis hard. 
Since with them Is my wife, 
Yet 'tis the way that God ordained, 
For me to save my hfe. 

"O'er hill that's high, and swamp that's deep 
I now alone must go : 
Travelling oh, I suffer much, 
For bruise my feet I do. 

"Amazingly my foot is swelled. 
With heat 'tis in a flame; 
And though I'm in the desert land 
Can't walk, I am so very lame. 

"But lest my foot I further hurt. 
My breeches tear I do. 
And round my foot I do them tie 
That I along may go. 

"The time since first I captive was. 
This is the fourteenth day; 
Five with the Indians, and nine since 
From them I ran away. 

"And now from bondage though I'm freed, 
Yet she that's my beloved, 
Into the land that's far remote 
By Indians removed." 
144 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

From such poetry — and such callousness — it is a 
relief to look again at the beauties of nature along the 
Juniata from Mount Union toward Mill Creek. The 
sharp bends here are explained by the sight of Sideling 
Hill and Terrace Mountain, for these compel the stream 
to turn south, and so add to the delights of the railway 
tourist and make the travelers by the turnpike who 
enter Mill Creek from the northeast wish to go down 
into Trough Creek Valley, south of the town. This 
valley, the boyhood home of Ex-Governor Brumbaugh, 
presents a wonderful assortment of varied attractions 
that make one wish that railroads and highways led to 
every corner of the region. 

Fortunately there is a railway down the valley of the 
Raystown Branch, so that it is possible to follow the 
crooked course of this tributary of the Juniata as far as 
Breezewood on the Lincoln Highway. This ride over 
the celebrated Huntingdon and Broad Top Railway is 
the more inviting because of the possibility of returning, 
by way of Bedford and the railroad thence to Altoona, 
through a wild section of Bedford and Blair counties, 
whose grandeur makes us all the more ready for the 
quieter scenes spread out in the valley of the Franks- 
town Juniata, the branch of the mountain river 
that parallels the Raystown Juniata, at a distance of 
from seven to ten miles, across two ranges of mountains. 

The start for the round trip through the valleys of 
the two branches is Huntingdon, the town named by 
its founder — Dr. William Smith, first provost of the 
University of Pennsylvania — for the Countess of 
Huntingdon. The Indian name for the place was the 
more picturesque Onojutta, or "Standing Stone." The 
"standing stone," an ancient memorial of the Lidians, 
stood within the limits of the present beautiful city. It 

10 145 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

was originally fourteen feet high and six inches square, 
and was covered with hieroglyphics. The Indians 
removed it in 1754, but its memory persists, helped by a 
tablet erected on its site in 189C and the representation 
of the monolith on the seal of the borough. The Juniata, 
too, helps to keep green the memory of the "standing 
stone," for Juniata is derived from the musical Onojutta. 
Huntingdon is located in this valley, and is surrounded 
by wooded slopes and fertile fields so attractive that 
it is difficult to decide which way to turn. To the 
southwest is Great Terrace, to the east and southwest 
the lordly range of Jack's ^Mountain. Other majestic 
mountain views are toward the gap of iNIount Union at 
the Lion's Back. 

There is a most attractive road from Huntingdon to 
the northeast that parallels the William Penn Highway 
from Reedsville, though with a ridge of high mountains 
between. This gives access to a region whose wild 
gorges, steep hillsides, and rocky wilderness combine to 
make what will prove a pleasing detour. Greenwood 
Furnace, one of the famous charcoal forges of other 
days, is found at the end of eighteen miles of the route. 
The site of the furnace is included in one of the great 
properties of the Pennsylvania Forest Reserve. 

Fortunately it is possible to return from Greenwood 
Furnace by a route that joins the main highway some 
six miles beyond Huntingdon, — a route so abounding in 
pleasures for the eye that it is easy to forget the diffi- 
culties of a path that has not yet received the final 
touches given by the State Highway Department to so 
many of the state's roads. 

In following the main highway from Huntingdon 
toward Hollidaysburg a scenic feature three or four 
miles on the way is the great Pulpit Rocks, forty or 

140 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

fifty feet high, on Warrior's Ridge; while a few miles 
farther on is Water Street, so named by the early settlers 
because the pioneer road led for some distance through 
a narrow defile, along the bed of the stream. This 
stream is probably Sinking Creek, which flows from 
Arch Spring, a few miles northwest of Water Street, 
but nearer Birmingham. Arch Spring — so called 
because it is in a large limestone rock, with a high 
overhanging arch — is one of the favorite resorts in 
these mountains. After leaving the spring the stream 
runs along amidst the wildest scenery. It receives 
additions from smaller springs, when finally the whole 
volume of water disappears in a large cavern, and 
again enters the bowels of the earth. In the inside of 
this rocky cavern the stream continues from eighteen 
to twenty feet wide. The roof declines gradually, and 
a ledge of loose rugged rock keeps in tolerable order 
upon one side, affording means to scramble along. The 
opening continues for several hundred yards, when the 
cavern opens into a spacious room. At the bottom is a 
great vortex, into which the water is precipitated, and 
whirls around with amazing force. The stream is sup- 
posed to pass several miles under Brush and Cove 
mountains, and to reappear by two branches, which 
empty into the Frankstown Branch of the Juniata. 

Those who have opportunity should take the road 
that leads northeast from Water Street, up Spruce 
Creek Valley, to Pennsylvania Furnace. Near by are 
"the Indian Steps," a series of stone steps over the 
Tussey Mountains, made famous by the titanic strug- 
gle of 1635, when the Susquehannocks and the Leni 
Lenapes fought for the possession of these mountains. 
In the battle — which Colonel Henry W. Shoemaker, a 
man who knows every mile of this mid-mountain terri- 

117 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

tory, says was equal to any of the great conflicts of the 
Civil War, both in fierceness and in the number of men 
engaged — the Susquehannocks, under their chief Pip- 
sisseway, were victorious, and the Lenni Lenapes sadly 
turned to the lands to the north. 

From Water Street two routes are open to the west. 
One of them follows the Little Juniata, familiar to those 
who ride along its banks on trains of the Pennsylvania 
Railroad toward Tyrone, and then to Altoona, while 
the second keeps near the Frankstown Juniata all the 
way to Hollidaysburg, a town built on a spot where 
Adam Holliday, in 1768, said to his brother, William, 
"Whoever is alive a hundred years hence will find here a 
considerable town." It is a pity that the lower route to 
Hollidaysburg is not better known, for it leads through 
a brilliant succession of valleys and mountain gorges. 

Those who used the old Pennsylvania canal enjoj^ed 
the beauty of the lower route, from Petersburg, as did 
the Indians who picked their way along the Frankstown 
trail, which gives its name to old Frankstown, near 
Hollidaysburg. There it succeeded the Indian village 
Assunepachla, a town that dates from 1750. Perhaps 
half way between Petersburg and Hollidaysburg is the 
Beaver Dam country, a wild region famous for its 
primeval forests. Not many miles from here, near 
Williamsburg, William Penn made one of his fortunate 
investments in real estate, the fertile Morrison's Cove 
Valley. For this he paid £400! 

The section of canal that led along this route to 
Hollidaysburg was an important link in the combined 
route of the Pennsylvania Canal and the Portage Rail- 
road from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, the predecessor 
of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The complete route of 
this historic waterway-railroad was from Philadelphia 
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PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

by rail to Columbia, by canal up the Susquehanna to 
the mouth of the Juniata, up the Juniata and the Little 
Juniata to Hollidaysburg, by the Portage Railroad to 
the Conemaugh, then down the Conemaugh, the Kis- 
kiminetas, and the Allegheny, to Pittsburgh. This 
made a roundabout journey. But the trip, once taken, 
could not be forgotten. 

Perhaps the best idea of traveling by the canals and 
the Portage Railroad was given by a traveler of 1836 
who called himself Peregrine Prolix. First he described 
his accommodations: 

"A canal packet boat ... is nearly eighty feet 
long and eleven wide; and has a house built in it that 
extends to within six or seven feet of stem and stern. 
Thirty-six feet in length of said house are used as a 
cabin by day, and a dormitory by night; the forward 
twelve feet being nocturnally partitioned off by an 
opaque curtain, when there are more than four ladies 
on board, for their accommodation . . . 

"This machine is dragged through the water at the 
rate of three miles and a half per hour by three horses, 
driven tandem by a dipod with a long whip, who rides 
the hindmost horse. The rope, which is about one 
hundred yards in length, is fastened to the side of the 
roof, at the distance of twenty feet from the bow, in 
such fashion that it can be loosed from the boat in a 
moment by touching a spring." 

Prolix mourned that he missed the last eighteen of 
the twenty -eight miles of interesting scenery because of 
darkness. So he lamented that there was not, for the 
accommodation of those who wished to see Pennsyl- 
vania, "a line of canal packets traveling only by day, 
drawn by five horses at the rate of five miles per hour; 
starting at 5 a. m. and stopping at 7 p. m. at good 
hotels in pleasant places; furnishing breakfast and 
dinner on board. Such a line would draw such a con- 

149 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

course of pleasure-seekers as would soon fill the packets 
of the enterprising proprietors." 

At length the packet reached Hollidaysburg. There, 
in a commodious basin, the eastern section of the Penn- 
sylvania Canal terminated. In this basin "the goods 
destined for the West" were taken from the boats and 
placed '*in Burthen Cars which are to carry them over 
the mountains, by means of the Allegheny Portage 
Railroad." This railroad led "by a gently rising grade, 
four miles from the foot of the mountain, whither the 
cars are drawn by horses." 

Unfortunately this master of the art of racy descrip- 
tion did not continue his journey to Pittsburgh by way 
of the Portage Railroad. A few weeks later, however, 
he crossed the mountains from Johnstown to Hollidays- 
burg by this route, and he left an account of the trip, 
which is good reading at this point, even if it was taken 
toward the east instead of toward the west. 

The paragraph telling of the mountain experience 
was introduced by an execrable attempt at punning: 

"We incline to be very plain in explaining the nature 
of these planes, and to prevent our readers from com- 
plaining of the little light we may shed on the subject 
when we shall be passing this miracle of art, we shall 
keep our eyes, ears, and mouth wide open." 

The western end of the Portage Railroad was reached 
at Johnstown. A level of four miles led to the foot of 
the first plane. This was covered in horse-drawn cars, 
at a speed of six miles an hour. The ascent was one 
hundred and one feet. During the passage of the level 
there was much excitement: 

"In six hours the cars and passengers were to be 
raised eleven hundred and twenty-two feet of perpen- 
dicular height, and to be lowered fourteen hundred feet 

150 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

of perpendicular descent, by complicated, powerful and 
frangible machinery, and were to pass a mountain, to 
overcome which, with a similar weight, three years ago, 
would have required a space of three days. The idea 
of rising so rapidly in the world, particularly by steam 
or a rope, is very agitating to the simple minds of those 
who have always walked in humble paths." 

At the foot of the first plane "the horses were un- 
hitched and the cars were fastened to the rope, which 
passes up the middle of one track and down the middle 
of the other.'* After this the cars were drawn up six- 
teen hundred and eight feet, for a rise of one hundred 
and fifty feet, in four minutes, the motive power being 
a stationary steam engine. 

Then came a journey by horse power "through a 
magnificent tunnel nine hundred feet long." Next 
"the train of cars were attached to a steam tug to pass a 
level of fourteen miles in length, with a rise of one hun- 
dred and ninety feet." 

" The valley of the Little Conemaugh is passed on a 
viaduct of the most beautiful construction. It is of 
one arch, a perfect semicircle with a diameter of eighty 
feet, built of cut stone, and the entire height from the 
foundation is seventy -eight feet six inches." 

An hour brought the passengers to the foot of the 
second plane, seventeen hundred and sixty feet long, 
with a rise of one hundred and thirty-two feet; then: 

"The third level has a length of a mile and five- 
eighths, a rise of fourteen feet six inches, and is passed 
by means of horses. The third plane has a length of 
fourteen hundred and eighty feet, and a perpendicular 
height of one hundred and thirty. The fourth level is 
five miles long, rises nineteen feet and is passed by 
means of horses. The fourth plane has a length of two 
thousand one hundred and ninety-six feet, and a per- 

151 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

pendicular height of one hundred and eighty-eight. The 
fifth level is three miles long, rises twenty -six feet, and 
is passed by means of horses. The fifth plane has a 
length of two thousand six hundred and twenty-nine 
feet, and a perpendicular height of two hundred and 
two, and brings you to the top of the mountain. 

"Three short hours have brought you from the torrid 
plane, to a refreshing and invigorating climate. The 
ascending apprehension has left you, but it is succeeded 
by the fear of the steep descent . . . And as the car 
rolls along on this giddy height, the thought trembles 
in your mind, that it may slip over the head of the 
first descending plane, rush down the frightful steep, 
and be dashed to a thousand pieces . . . The descent 
on the eastern side of the mountain is much more fear- 
ful than is the ascent on the western, for the planes are 
nmch longer and steeper, of which you are made 
aware by the increased thickness of the rope; and you 
look down instead of up." 

The last of the five levels which alternate with the 
descending planes was nearly four miles long. This led 
to the basin at Hollidaysburg. Along it the cars trav- 
eled by the force of gravity. 

When the road of which Prolix wrote so enthusias- 
tically was built a journalist of the day wrote: 

"The design was originally entertained of connecting 
the main Pittsburgh route by continuing the canals 
with locks and dams as far as possible on both sides, 
and then to tmmel through the mountain summit, a 
distance of four miles! Fortunately, however, this 
extravagant idea was abandoned, and surveys for 
the railroad were commenced in 1828 . . . Sylvester 
Welch . . . has immortalized his name by a work 
equal in importance and grandeur to any in the world. 
He has raised a monument to the intelligence, enterprise 
and public spirit of Pennsylvania more honorable than 
the temples and pyramids of Egypt or the triumphal 
arches and columns of Rome. 

152 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

"In October, 1834, the portage was actually the 
means of connecting the waters of eastern Pennsylvania 
with those of the Mississippi . . . Jesse Christian, from 
the Lackawanna, a tributary of the North Branch of the 
Susquehanna, loaded his boat, named Hit or Miss, with 
his wife, children, beds, and family accommodation, 
with pigeons, and other livestock, and started for 
Illinois." 

He planned to sell his boat at Hollidaysburg, but 
enthusiasts persuaded him to take it over the mountain. 
A special railway car was prepared. The boat was 
placed in this, and was carried over the rugged Alle- 
gheny, without disturbing the family arrangements 
for cooking, sleeping, etc. They rested at night on the 
top of the mountain, and next day descended to the 
canal and proceeded by water to Pittsburgh and the 
Ohio. 

The day came when the state decided that the planes 
must be abandoned. So, in 1855, there was completed a 
new Portage Road for canal boats, between Hollidays- 
burg and Johnstown. The old line had been sold to 
the Pennsylvania Railroad. For less than two years 
the new road was operated in competition with the 
private corporation; but it proved unprofitable, and 
was abandoned — to the sorrow of employees who were 
able to take many privileges in those free-and-easy 
days. A local historian tells of some of these: 

"After dark the oflScials were not particular what 
their employees did with the engine, and frequently 
they would raise steam and set it off to attend a coun- 
try frolic, and leave the locomotive standing on the 
main track, without guard or light, as no lamps or 
torches were provided for night work. On Sunday the 
engine would be taken out at the pleasure of the crew, 
who would go where they desired." 

153 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

The inconvenience of such actions may be guessed 
from the fact that on parts of the route the new Portage 
Railroad used the same tracks as the Pennsylvania 
Railroad ! 

The Portage Railroad passed into history in 1857, but 
there are relics of its brilliant career. There are a num- 
ber of towns along the route, once prosperous, now 
abandoned or moribund, though some of them have 
continued to prosper. Then in the Carnegie Museum 
at Pittsburgh there is a section of rail and stone blocks 
used on the line. But best of all are the remnants of 
the stanch bridges, the mark of the right of way, and 
the stone sleepers still to be seen by one who follows the 
old course from Hollidaysburg over the mountains. 

To discover some of these relics, leave Hollidays- 
burg and walk a mile or more across the fields, past 
Duncansville. You will presently find your further 
progress barred by an extensive chain of high hills, rising 
almost to the dignity of mountains. Here on the hill- 
side is plainly visible a long, smooth incline, climbing 
by an easy grade a distance of half a mile. This is 
plane number ten, the first eastern plane of the old 
Portage Road. 

From Hollidaysburg to this plane the bed of the old 
road is still in view by the Newry branch of the Penn- 
sylvania. It is a climb of half a mile to the top of plane 
number ten. Then comes a level space a mile long to 
the foot of plane number nine — a mile made memorable 
by the towering mountains on one side and the view of 
the valley spread out below. The pilgrimage should 
be continued up planes nine, eight, and seven. To 
the right will be seen Blair's Gap, while the old Pitts- 
burgh turnpike is far below in the valley. 

At the foot of plane number six the turnpike crosses 

154 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

the old Portage route on a stone bridge. At the end of 
plane six is the summit, the highest ground in Cambria 
County. Summit village is a little farther on, on the 
level stretch between planes five and six 

The new Portage Railroad did not climb so far as 
this, but turned aside at plane number eight, and crossed 
the mountain by a tunnel at Gallitzin. The Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad also reaches Gallitzin, but by the easier 
grade of which the Horseshoe Curve is an important 
link. The original Portage road, however, pointed the 
way for its present-day successor to cross the valley at 
Edttanning Point ; here there was one of the great engi- 
neering triumphs of the road, a semicircular track of 
eighty feet span, which cost $54,562 — a large sum for 
those days. 

The eyes of the average traveler who rides around 
the Horseshoe Curve are turned downward so that he 
fails to grasp the rather intricate engineering problem 
solved when this bit of the road w^as built. An ofiicial 
publication of the Pennsylvania Railroad describes this: 

"The valley the road has followed for six miles here 
separates into two chasms, neither of which can be made 
available for further progress. Another opening into 
the giant barriers must be gained, and engineering 
science proved equal to the task of reaching it. By a 
grand horse-shoe shaped curve, the sides of which are 
parallel with each other, the road crosses both ravines 
on a higher embankment, cuts away the point of the 
mountain dividing, sweeps around the stupendous 
eastern wall, and leads away to a more tractable pass." 

The great Kittanning Indian trail crosses the moun- 
tain by this gorge, using the northeast gap. The 
southwest gap was called Burgoon Gap; through it led 
a variation of the Kittanning trail. 

155 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Think of it! Within a short distance of each other 
are five great routes of travel — the trail of the Indian, 
the old Pittsburgh pike, the old Portage road, the new 
Portage road, and the Pennsylvania Railroad. 

As the train emerges from the tunnel at the summit 
of the Allegheny mountains the brakeman shouts "Gal- 
litzin." Some of the passengers who have passed that 
way before give no heed; others look eagerly from the 
windows and wonder at the strange name of the station. 
It was evidently named for some man. But who was 
he? Indian? Explorer? Soldier? 

Gallitzin was neither Indian nor soldier. He was 
something of an explorer, but only as his duties led 
him into the mountain fastnesses of an unknown sec- 
tion of the country. He was a humble missionary, 
whose life in the Pennsylvania wilderness was a marvel 
of self-sacrificing endurance. Yet his name is all but 
forgotten, and the few stories of his life which have been 
written are difficult of access. Wlien they are asked for 
at the library, the inquirer is usually informed that they 
are out of print. 

This Pennsylvania missionary of more than a century 
ago was born a prince. His father, the head of a rich 
and noble Russian house, once ambassador to France 
and to Holland, owned landed estates, near Warsaw, 
which were larger than the state of Pennsylvania. His 
mother was the daughter of one of the field marshals 
of Frederick the Great. 

The father was an infidel, while the mother, during 
the earlier years of her life was "scarcely better," as 
one writer says. The training of the young prince 
can be imagined. However, in 1787, when he was 
seventeen, "he accidentally picked up in a bookstore 
a copy of the Bible, which he purchased, and great 

15G 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

was his satisfaction in the secret perusal of a vol- 
ume so rich and wonderful.' ' The reading led to his 
con version. - 

When twenty-two years old he was preparing to go 
to Vienna, where he was to put on the uniform of a col- 
onel in the Austrian army. This was to be the first 
stage in a splendid military career which his father had 
mapped out for liim. But political considerations made 
it impossible for him to go as planned. So it was 
thought best to devote the next few years to foreign 
travel, without which no gentleman's son was consid- 
ered educated. He was, therefore, sent to America. 
The voyage was made in the company of a young min- 
ister, whose example and consecration fired the zeal of 
the young prince. He determined to turn his back on 
the world and its allurements. 

The first step in his new life was to seek admission to 
a theological seminary at Baltimore. After his ordina- 
tion, in 1795, he was sent as a traveling missionary to 
Conewago, Pennsylvania, and to "different towns and 
stations in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania." In 
1799, determining to centralize his work, he chose a lo- 
cation on the western slope of the mountains, where he 
built a log church. From the home field he made hun- 
dreds of journeys to minister to scattered settlers, when 
"the bare floor was frequently his bed, the saddle his 
pillow, and the coarsest fare his food." 

At Loretto, several miles from Gallitzin, he deter- 
mined to found a colony. He planned to purchase lands 
at his own expense, sell them in small farm lots at a 
nominal price, or give them away. "He erected grist- 
mills, sawmills, and other facilities for subsistence, in a 
region whose settlers had been wont to travel thirty or 
forty miles to grind their breadstufts and procure the 

157 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

necessaries of life." Thus he became responsible for a 
large sum of money. 

The devoted missionary was in the midst of his work 
when his father died, and he was summoned to return 
to Russia and claim the estates. He would have been 
glad to do this, but no one could be secured to take his 
place, even temporarily, and he felt that he could not 
leave alone the colonists whom he had invited into the 
wilderness. Accordingly "he wrote to his mother that 
whatever he might gain by the voyage from a temporal 
point of view could not, in his estimation, be compared 
with the loss of a single soul, that might be occasioned 
by his absence." He therefore asked that agents be 
appointed to look after his interests, and secure any 
portion of the estate they could. 

The courts, however, declared that the absence of the 
prince in America, and his religious faith, disqualified 
him for inheritance, and the estate was given to his 
sister. The sister promised to make the matter right 
by a will in his favor. At her death, some years later, 
a fraudulent document was substituted, and he was 
given nothing. Although his case could easily have 
been won, he refused to make a contest, saying, "an 
investigation must injure some one, and he could 
endure wrong and hardship, but would inflict none." 

Depending upon the sale of goods left him by his 
mother, he continued his work, spending about one 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, all for the benefit 
of others: 

"No portion of this was spent for his own pleasure or 
comfort, as his personal habits were peculiarly plain and 
simple. His food generally consisted of coarse bread 
and garden vegetables, his clothing was of the plainest 
and simplest homespun, and his house was a rude log 

158 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

cabin, whose door was always hospitably open to the 
poor and the stranger. To complete his self-abnega- 
tion, he dropped the noble name of Gallitzin, and 
passed among his people as plain Mr. Smith, a name 
assumed as a safe disguise to shield him from the in- 
quiries which even in that remote corner of the earth 
pursued the princely missionary." 

The dishonesty of relatives at home kept from him 
some funds on which he had counted, and he became 
financially embarrassed. A friend of his boyhood — at 
this time the king of Holland — learned of his need and 
sent him a considerable gift, insisting on its acceptance. 
The Russian minister at Washington sent him five 
thousand dollars. With such assistance, and by strict 
self-denial, he was able to keep his head above water. 

But nobles and kings were not the only men who 
helped him. It is related that "when the laborers on 
the Pennsylvania canal, then building, learned that his 
house was to be sold by the sheriff, they raised the 
money and paid the debt." 

In 1837, when a friend urged him to return to Europe 
and make another fight for his patrimony, he answered, 
"Being in my sixty-seventh year, burdened moreover 
with the remnant of my debts, I had better spend my 
few remaining years, if any, in trying to pay off that 
balance, and in preparing for a longer journey." He 
died three years later, after forty-five years of self- 
sacrificing toil for his fellow-men. 

Prince Gallitzin knew how to choose a good town site. 
When he wanted to start a colony he turned his steps 
to the neighborhood of the only gap in the mountain 
range between what is now Altoona and the Maryland 
line, by which a railroad could cross the divide — except 
for the notch made by the Castleman River, used by the 

159 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in its progress from Cum- 
berland to Pittsburgh. 

Not far away from Gallitzin, and four miles from 
Ebensburg, is a ridge from which a close observer may 
note the water on one side that flows into tributaries of 
the Susquehanna, and so into the Atlantic, while on the 
other side he can see water that is bound for the Gulf 
of Mexico by way of the Ohio River. 

Wales as well as Russia had a part in the settlement 
of Cambria County. In fact, the name of the county 
tells of the Welsh settlements; it was so named for the 
mountain region of Wales, of which the new country was 
a constant reminder. Ebensburg, too, was named by 
Welsh settlers, who delighted in the commanding view 
of the country round about afforded from the site of the 
town, at the top of one of the ridges of the Alleghenies, 
and only seven miles from the summit. The elevation 
here is about two thousand feet, and the descent to the 
surrounding valleys is often abrupt. At almost every 
turn the highway — this leads through Ebensburg in- 
stead of following the valley of the Conemaugh from 
Gallitzin to Johnstown, as does the railroad — gives 
glimpses that are sufficient explanation of the fondness 
of the Welsh settlers for this highland section. 

Within three miles of Ebensburg there is a village 
that is another reminder of the Welsh of early days. 
Beulah Road is all that is left to tell of the town of 
Beulah, laid out in 1796 by Rev. Morgan John Rhys, 
on land purchased from Benjamin Rush of Philadel- 
phia. The plan was quite ambitious; the right-angled 
streets were copied after Philadelphia. This was to be- 
come a great city in the land of Jordan. It did prosper 
for a time. At length there were sixty log houses on the 
site, as well as a school, a church, and a library of six 

160 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

hundred volumes. But when Cambria County was 
formed Ebensburg became the county seat, and Beulah 
lost its population. By 1808 all had left. Ebensburg 
grew slowly until the completion of the Portage Rail- 
road, when it became a popular summer resort. 

Though the sightly old Welsh town continues to 
prosper, the Portage Railroad has been all but forgotten 
for three quarters of a century. Yet there are, on the 
western side of the mountain, as well as on the eastern 
side, reminders of the day when the railroad was in 
its glory — as, for instance, the old tunnel at the head of 
plane one, near Johnstown (said to have been the first 
tunnel through a hill for railroad use on the continent) 
and the remnants of the wall protecting the railroad on 
the south side of the Conemaugh. 

It is claimed by some that all ocean steamers which 
depend on bulkheads for safety in time of collision owe a 
debt to the Portage Railway. At first the goods brought 
to either end of the railway by the canal had to be trans- 
shipped for the mountain passage. Captain John 
Dougherty of Hollidaysburg studied long the problem 
of ways and means of saving the time and expense of the 
double transfer of shipments. As an experiment he 
devised the three-section canal boat. When the basin 
at the beginning of the mountain section was reached, 
the boat could be divided into sections. Then, loaded 
with goods, the sections could be transported to the 
beginning of the next section of canal. In 1834 he sold 
his patent, but in 1842 he surprised the purchaser by 
offering for use on the canal a four-section boat. This 
improvement was quite successful, and the idea was 
later incorporated in the great steamships. 

The water for the Pennsylvania canal was supplied, in 
11 161 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

dry seasons, by the South Fork dam, begun in 1835. 
Twice this dam gave way — once, in 1862, when the 
water was so low that httle damage was done in the 
valley, the second time in 1889. Then it had been 
swollen by heavy rains, and without warning it sent the 
impounded water from its five-hundred-acre lake upon 
the doomed thousands who could not escape to the hills 
in season. 

At Johnstown there was a large basin in the center of 
the town, formed by damming the Conemaugh. In this 
the boats waited their turn to pass on over the mountain. 
There were frequently scores of boats, and the surround- 
ing warehouses and l)oatyards were kept busy. One of 
the conveniences arranged here was an apparatus for 
landing and hauling up the section boats, that they 
might cross the mountain on trucks. 

Before the days of the canal-boat railway Johnstown 
was a vital point between the east and the west. Arks 
and flatboats were here prepared for transfer to the 
Juniata and its waters, or were received after the jour- 
ney across the mountains. This was done by means 
of the Kittanning trail, then by the Frankstown road, 
then by a turnpike, and finally by the railroad. 

The Conemaugh is not much of a stream till it comes 
to Johnstown, the steel city. There it becomes broader 
and deeper, as if realizing the importance that was 
given to it in the past, that will perhaps belong to it 
at some time in the future. The town was originally 
named for the stream on whose banks it stands. But it 
is not fair to Stony Creek to speak of the larger stream 
as if it were the only channel there. The name Stony 
Creek was given to the smaller stream because it was 
filled with great rocks. In and near the town many of 
these were removed. Those who would see what the 

162 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

creek looked like two generations ago should go fifteen 
miles north and see the large rocks still to be found 
there. 

From Johnstown the Conemaugh flows northeast 
through a number of gorges and gaps to Blairsville. The 
one hundred and ninety miles of mountain scenery are 
soon to end, and in this twenty-four-mile section the 
river makes the most of its opportunities. Canyons, 
ridges, and valleys succeed one another with bewildering 
rapidity. Four miles from Johnstown is Sang Hollow, 
through Laurel Hill. Fifteen miles farther on is Pack- 
saddle Narrows, through Chestnut Ridge. Through 
these magnificent regions the railroad descends rapidly, 
though not so rapidly as did the canal. Between Johns- 
town and Blairsville the old canal descended two hun- 
dred and twenty-three feet by means of thirty-five 
locks, five dams, and three aqueducts. 

One of the remarkable caves of the state is in the 
limestone rock on the side of Chestnut Ridge, about five 
miles south of the Packsaddle, near Hillside station. 
Great Bear Cave has a number of passages which lead 
over deep chasms where running water is heard far 
below, to vast chambers in the heart of the mountain. 
But the best part of the visit to the cave comes when 
one steps from the darkness within to the light of the 
mountain side, and looks with dazzled eyes out over 
the Conemaugh as it winds through the valley to the 
north and east. 

The Conemaugh Valley becomes much more sedate 
after Blairsville is left behind. It continues along the 
southern boundary of Indiana County, joins the Loyal- 
hanna that comes in from Latrobe and so forms the 
beautiful Kiskiminetas — a stream which was an impor- 
tant link in the system of water transportation between 

16.? 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

the western terminus of the Portage Railway and the 
Allegheny River. 

In the days of the construction of the canal, Blairs- 
ville was a town of importance. In fact, it was almost a 
boom town during the early thirties, though after the 
completion of the waterway Johnstown became a much 
more important center, because it was the terminus of 
its western section. 

One of Blairsville's most exciting days was in 1834. 
The Blairsville Record of June 11, 1834, tells the story: 

"Last week a steam canal boat (the Adelina] came up 
from Pittsburgh and went on to Johnstown. She 
returned on Sunday morning with a load of more than 
forty thousand pounds of blooms, passing the place 
handsomely at the rate of rather more than three 
miles an hour." 

Before the period when iron blooms were made in the 
Conemaugh Valley, salt was a product of importance. 
In 1813, when salt was high, many wells were sunk 
along the river in a most laborious manner. A common 
stone chisel attached to poles was used to cut a channel 
from two to three inches in diameter, and 300 to 600 
feet deep. As the work was done by hand, the chisel 
being struck smartly for each slight gain in depth, 
progress was slow. Sometimes a year or even more was 
required to drill a single well. Fresh water was excluded 
by means of a tube, and salt water was drawn from 
within the tube by pumps, operated either by horse 
power or by steam. The salt water was boiled and left 
standing until the salt crystallized. Thirty gallons 
were evaporated to make a single bushel of salt. Yet 
one well could produce from fifteen to twenty barrels 
a day. The price, however, was frequently but one 
dollar per barrel. 

164 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURGH 

Not many miles from Blairsville the William Penn 
Highway joins the Lincoln Highway, and follows the 
same route into the metropolis of the Allegheny Valley, 
whose surroundings are as attractive to-day as they 
were in 1806 when Thomas Ashe said, "Perhaps no 
inland town in the United States, or perhaps in the 
world, can boast of a position superior to this, both as 
to the beauty, and also the many advantages with which 
it is attended." 



ROUTE IV 

THROUGH THE PENNSYLVANIA 
HIGHLANDS 

FROM HARRISBURG TO OLEAN AND ELMIRA, NEW YORK. 

AND BACK TO HARRISBURG. BY WAY OF WILKES-BARRE 

ABOUT 530 MILES 

IT is far from a misfortune to be asked to go a second 
time over the thirty miles of road from Harrisburg 
north to Liverpool, where the William Penn High- 
way turns to the west and the Northumberland Road 
leads northeast. For those miles are along the queenly 
Susquehanna through scenes that would satisfy the de- 
sires of any seeker after the picturesque in landscape. 
The highway is constructed in many places on the 
bed of the old canal that followed the course of the river. 
This fact can be appreciated best from the railway, to 
the east of the road. The substantial masonry that 
supported the canal has been built higher, so that the 
surface is on a solid foundation. Farther on, the canal 
route can be traced by the stone aqueducts by which it 
crossed little streams, and the tall trees growing from 
the abandoned bed. 

Only a few miles from Harrisburg is the gap at Dau- 
phin, where the river turns to the south after making 
its graceful curve to the east. A few miles farther up 
stream, to the north of the Juniata covered bridge, a 
lingering backward look discloses a marvelous composi- 
tion that defies description. It is a view that should be 
seen from both sides of the river. At this point the 
highway crosses to the west side, but if a journey can be 
made up the east side as well the traveler will be well 
repaid for the extra effort. Fortunate are those who 

16G 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

are able to stand at one end of the rear coach of the 
train to Northumberland, on the journey northward. 
They can turn the eye at will down the stream, or 
across the broad surface to the villages and fields on 
the west, or inland. Some of the most striking vistas 
of the journey will be the reward of the gaze inland, for 
from the east flow one after another a series of creeks 
whose ravines, valleys, and gorges surprise by their 
variety and beauty. Story's Creek, Clark's Creek, 
and Powell's Creek are succeeded by the Wiconisco, 
along whose banks the railway to the famous Lykens 
Valley coal region — one of the earliest roads in the 
state — picks its way. Then comes the Mahantango, 
with its corresponding stream, the West Mahantango, 
across the river. 

A magazine writer of seventy years ago was thinking 
primarily of this section of the Susquehanna when he 
spoke of it as "the Alpha and the Omega of Nature's 
gifts to the state — the first and noblest in beauty as 
it is in extent and position." Then his thoughts turned 
to the stream in its entirety: 

"From its rippling mountain springs to its vast and 
swelling debouche, every step of the noble river is amidst 
the picturesque, whether flowing in broad and placid 
expanse through the great sunlit valleys, or gliding in 
ghostly shade at the base of lofty hills, or wildly disput- 
ing its way with obstructing rock and precipice." 

William Cullen Bryant's enthusiasm led him to 
statements even more emphatic. He says that the tour- 
ist who has been enraptured by the Susquehanna would 
be loath to exchange its mountain scenery "for moun- 
tains that invade the skies, and whose sullen peaks are 
covered with a snow mantle fringed with glittering 
glaciers." 

167 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

To appreciate the truth of Bryant's words one needs 
only to take a good look at the gap below Millersburg, 
the town at the mouth of the Wiconlsco, which might 
well belong in a section of country much more rugged. 
The gap can be seen to better advantage by a backward 
look from Liverpool, a pleasing town on the west bank. 

Across the river from Millersburg, and on the line of 
the highway, is Buffalo township — a reminder that this 
valley was once a part of the range of vast herds of 
buffalo. W. T. Hornaday says that the animals used to 
roam from Harrisburg to Sunbury and on up the West 
Branch of the Susquehanna. It is probable that as late 
as 1773 there were twelve thousand bison in the herds 
that came to this part of the country. Union County, 
a few miles farther north, has named three of its nine 
townships for the awkward looking animals, while a 
fourth is named for the deer that once frequented the 
valley. This county has also Buffalo Cross Roads, 
Buffalo Gap, and Buffalo Path Run. Along the latter, 
according to Henry W. Shoemaker, the path taken by 
the buffalo is still plainly marked, although none of the 
animals have tramped over it for more than a century. 

The country between Buffalo township in Perry 
County and the three Buffalo townships in Union 
County, and westward in north Snyder and south 
Union Counties, will ever be memorable in the minds 
of sportsmen because here was the scene of the last 
stand of Pennsylvania's dwindling herd of bison. De- 
cember, 1799, was the time of the disaster. 

Nearly four hundred animals, unable to escape because 
of settlements on all sides, had remained hidden in the 
fastnesses of the mountains to the west of Snyder and 
Union counties. The severe winter of the closing year 
of the eighteenth century made them desperate; and, 

168 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

in search of food, they braved the dangers of the valley 
of Middle Creek, whose winding stream entering into 
the Susquehanna may be observed by the wayfarer as 
he comes to Selinsgrove, a few miles below Sunbury. 
Soon they scented the barnyard haystack of a settler, 
broke through the stump fence, and in a few moments 
were devouring the hay, after trampling the cattle and 
sheep in the enclosure. 

The owner of the hay, assisted by a neighbor, man- 
aged to kill four of the beasts. The shots and the bark- 
ing of the dogs drove them farther down the valley to 
the cabin of the neighbor who had helped the owner of 
the stack. This cabin stood near Troxelville, in the 
northwest part of Snyder County. There the wounded 
leader of the herd broke down the door and took refuge 
in the cabin. Of course the herd followed until no more 
could enter; thus they were jammed in the cabin "as 
tightly as wooden animals in a toy Noah's ark." Neigh- 
bors were summoned, the cabin was torn down, the 
buffalo were released, and the dead bodies of the 
wife and children of the owner of the cabin were found. 

The residents of the valley at once decided to avenge 
the victims by exterminating the herd. Fifty men 
were brought together by messengers who went out, 
one toward the headwaters of Middle Creek, the other 
toward the Susquehanna. In the meantime the bison 
had fled to the mountains. At the end of two days the 
hunters found them, buried to their necks in snow that 
had fallen since the tragedy at the settler's cabin. The 
spot was near Weikert, on Penn Creek, in the south- 
west corner of Union County, the "tight end" of Buf- 
falo Valley. Handicapped by cold and hunger, as well 
as by the snow, the bufl'alo could offer no resistance to 
the avengers. 

169 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

So perished miserably the last of the noble herd that 
once roamed over the valley of the Susquehanna. A 
few stragglers survived; but less than thirteen months 
later, on January 19, 1801, Colonel John Kelly killed 
the last Pennsylvania buffalo at Buffalo Cross Roads, 
some six miles west of the Susquehanna at Lewisburg, 
above Northumberland. Strangely enough, the last 
elk in the state was killed less than a dozen miles from 
this spot, though not until 1878. 

Now we turn back to Snyder County, from which the 
pursuit of the buffalo herd led away too soon. This is 
one of the smallest counties in the state, containing 
only about two hundred square miles. But from Jack's 
Mountain on the north to Shade Mountain on the south 
it contains more scenery of real grandeur than many 
counties several times its size. 

Selinsgrove has a sightly location opposite a number 
of fine islands in the river. These islands must have 
attracted the attention of Anthony Selin, a Swiss cap- 
tain in the Revolution, who laid out the town. At least 
one of them, the Isle of Que, lured Conrad Weiser also, 
according to an old story of his dealings with Shikellimy, 
the Indian chief. One day — so the story goes — Shikel- 
limy said to Weiser, "I dreamed that Tarachawagon 
had presented me with a rifle." Weiser had no choice, 
and the coveted rifle became the property of the wily 
Indian. But a few days later Tarachawagon said to 
ShikeUimy, "I dreamed that Shikellimy presented me 
with the large and beautiful island situated in the Sus- 
quehanna river." The island in question — the Isle of 
Que — was a favorite possession of Shikellimy 's; yet 
he gave it to his friend, though as he did so, he said 
"Tarachawagon, let us never dream again." 

Why should any searcher after truth delve deeper 

170 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

into the story than the record that Conrad Welser and 
his descendants were once owners of the island? 

Another good story is told in connection with Selins- 
grove. One of the early residents of the town was Simon 
Snyder, for whom the county was named. Snyder was 
governor of the state from 1808 to 1817. Incidentally 
it might be said that his service was notable because of 
his advocacy of free public schools. It was also notable 
because of his efforts to introduce coffee into the 
wilds of Snyder County. At one time he brought a 
supply of coffee from Harrisburg and distributed it 
to a number of his friends. Most people liked the 
new substitute for rye. But there was one woman who 
complained bitterly; she said, "That man Snyder is 
not fit to be governor." Asked her reason, she ex- 
plained that she had put into the pot, unground, the 
bag of coffee he gave her, and the mixture that resulted 
was unfit to drink. 

The attractions of the surroundings of Selinsgrove 
are great, as will be found by those who take the short 
road to Middleburg, the county seat, along the Middle 
Creek Valley, past Fort Hendrick, the blockhouse that 
rendered such good service in days before the Revolu- 
tion when the Indians from the north delighted to come 
to this region for the hunting and the fishing. To 
the north of Middleburg a road crosses Jack's Moun- 
tain to IMifflinburg in Union County. Of the many 
attractions of the road, perhaps the first is the Indian 
mound, nearly one hundred feet high. Ten miles to the 
west of Middleburg — whose original name, by the way, 
was Swinefordstown — is the settlement of Beaver 
Springs. Once the name accepted by the village was 
Adamsburg, but fortunately there was a change because 
of the historic beaver dam that once stood not far from 

171 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

the site of Ihc inodcrii (luiii, perhaps a mile from llie 
mouth of Beaver Crec^k. 

One of the finest stands of hendoek timber still stand- 
ing in the state is in Jack's Mountain forest, a state 
forest reservation, to the north of Beaver Springs. 
There the closely crowded monster trees rise like mon- 
archs from the valley, as if they would run a race with 
the mountain in jMereing the sky. Here is the forest 
primeval. Here one eatehes himself repeating the 
nature-loving Bryant's wortls: 

"Stranger, if thou hast learned a truth whieh needs 
No sehool of long ex])erienee, that the world 
Is fnll of guilt and misery, and hath seen 
Enough of all the sorrows, crimes and cares 
To tire \\\vc of it, enter this wildwood. 
And view the haunts of Natnre. The calm .shade 
Shall ))ring a kindred calm, and the moist breeze 
That nud-;es the green leaves dance, sludl waft a balm 
To thy sick heart. Thou wilt find nothing here 
Of all that pained thee in the haunts of men. 
And nuide thee loathe thy life . . . 

. . . '^riiese shades 
Are still the abode of gladness; the tliick roof 
Of green and stirring branches is alive 
And mnsical with birds . . . 

. . . The cool wind 
That stirs the stream in play, shall come to thee 
Like one that loves thee . . . . " 

Beyond Beaver Springs and the beckoning hemlock 
forest is a pass through the mountains, where the pros- 
pect is wonderfully pleasant. And then, to end the tale 
of the sights within reach of Middlel)urg, let it be said 
that a short walk of live or six miles north leads to 
New Berlin, over the line in Union County, a town 
notable because every street affords a view of the over- 
shadowing Jack's Mountain. 

172 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

In the Middle Creek Valley there was, until a few 
years ago, a curious narrow-gauge railroad. This was 
three miles long, and it led from Beaver Springs to 
Shawversville and the Shade Mountain. During the 
thirty-five years of the road's liistory steam engines, 
horses, and rruiles were used to transport the iron ore 
and lumber from the mountains. In IQL'J the rails 
were taken up, since the road was no longer needed. 

The Middle Creek Valley Railroad was opened in 1871. 
The people rejoiced for tlirce years. Then it failed, 
and was shut down. Not until 187G was it repaired 
and reopened. 

Perhaps the anxiety of Snyder County people to have 
a railroad was made stronger hy the fact that they had 
a road once and lost it. Port Trevorton, seven miles 
below Selinsgrove, was the terminus. This town was 
named for Jolin B. Trc\'or, a loc-al financier, who backed 
the railroad, the Trevorton, Mahanoy and Susquehanna. 
Fifteen miles of rails were laid through primeval for- 
ests and a rough wilderness. The grade was sometimes 
as great as ninety-eight feet to the mile. At Port Trev- 
orton a wooden bridge was built across the Susque- 
hanna, of timber found on the Isle of Que at Selinsgrove 
and floated down stream. The structure was 3400 feet 
long, and there was a trestle of 1400 feet more. 

The bridge was made profitable by adapting it to 
highway use as well as for the railroad, though, curi- 
ously, tljcre was no fjartition between the railroad and 
the footway. 

In 18.55 it was prophesied that here was sure to be 
"the main crossing for all the travel to Pottsville, 
Reading, &c." For a time it looked as if the prophecy 
was to be fulfilled, when it was used not only by trav- 
elers, but by immense droves of cattle. Frequently 

I7:i 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

there were so many cattle wanting to cross that the 
fields about Port Trevorton were filled with them. 

The continual passage of the cattle endangered the 
bridge, already weakened by the chemical action of 
acid in the bark on the pine timbers. Fearing a repe- 
tition of the disaster by which the rhythmic motion of 
fifteen hundred cattle had caused a bridge not far away 
to fall into the river, the Reading Company, the pur- 
chasers of the railroad, took down the structure. For 
many years the piers stood in the stream; traces of 
them may still be discovered. These are the last relics 
of the pioneer road of Snyder County, whose rails were 
removed soon after the destruction of the bridge. 

The Port Trevorton bridge led across to Northum- 
berland County, one of the strangest in contour of the 
many oddly shaped counties in Pennsylvania. The 
Susquehanna not only forms the entire western boun- 
dary, but the North Branch cuts across the middle of 
the county in a graceful series of curves between hills 
whose summits provide sweeping prospects that re- 
mind one of the Tennessee mountaineer who offered 
to take John Muir to a ridge from which he could see 
both ways. "You will have a view of all the world 
on one side of the mountain, and all creation on the 
other," was his inviting assurance. 

A visitor who appreciated the beauty of this pano- 
rama was Abijah Hall, who came this way on horseback 
in 1799. He spoke feelingly of "the slow, majestic 
crystal stream, with monstrous mountains and banks 
on each side, and a level road on a flat not more than a 
hundred or two yards wide, covered in general by lofty 
maples and beeches . . . calculated to please lovers, 
not farmers." In speaking more particularly of the 
Susquehanna, he said, "What a pity, several rapids 

174 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

and falls below should prevent this being as useful as 
'tis pretty." 

Hall would not have been so disdainful of the lands 
of this section if he had explored the valleys whose fer- 
tility has made them much sought after since the days 
of the first settlers who came this way in time to learn 
pioneer ways and to respond heartily to the call of 
Washington for soldiers of the Revolution. Northum- 
berland County has the proud record of being one of 
the strongest supporters of the conflict. 

Sunbury, the thriving railway town where the high- 
way from Reading joins the road up the Susquehanna, 
was built about old Fort Augusta, one of the dozen or 
more outposts between the Delaware River and the 
Maryland line established as a barrier against unfriendly 
Indians. Here had long been a town of the Delawares 
called Shamokin, or the abode of the chief. Shacka- 
maxon, the residence of the chief on the Delaware 
when Penn came to America, is thought to be another 
form of the name Shamokin. This, the most populous 
Indian town on the Susquehanna, was a favorite stop- 
ping place for the war parties of the Six Nations when 
on the way to fight the Catawbas. 

Life at the fort was full of interest and danger. In 
1757 conditions were at their worst, for that year a 
party of eight hundred French and Indians descended 
the West Branch to attack its stronghold, but when they 
saw how well defended the place was they were afraid to 
attack and stole away as quietly as they came. 

Throughout that year of alarms vigilance was never 
relaxed. Colonel James Burd, the commander, wrote 
in his diary of an instance of the care exercised for 
the safety of the valley. He told of a woman who 
"hallowed for help from the west side of the river." 

175 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

He sent "a party of 50 men and two oflBcers in four 
Battoes." Provision was made for the safety of the 
party, "lest an ambuscade should be framed and the 
woman prove a decoy." The commander's decision to 
investigate was due to the pleading of a man who had 
escaped to the !ort from the Indians, his captors; he 
was grieving for his wife, who was still in the hands of 
the Indians, and he could not bear to think of anyone 
in trouble going without rescue. To his joy the woman 
proved to be his own wife, who had wandered eight 
days after her escape from those who had captured her 
"upon Swetarrow" (Swatara), 

The road from Sunbury to Reading was laid out in 
1770. To it was given the name *' the Great Road." It 
was a popular track with those who came in great num- 
bers from New Jersey and the region about Philadelphia 
to take up lands in the New Purchase of 1768. Later it 
became a thoroughfare for the transportation of farm 
products to Philadelphia, and an avenue of travel even 
for sight-seers. 

From Sunbury the road up the West Branch was laid 
out in 1775. The first town on the route was Northum- 
berland, at the junction of the West and North Branches 
of the Susquehanna — famous in early days because of 
its connection with Chief Shikellimy of the Iroquois 
and his son Logan, friends of the settlers; in later days 
as the home of Dr. Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of 
oxygen, and always, to lovers of the far look, for the 
vision presented on a clear day from the summit of 
Blue Hill. 

To the northeast are the Montour Ridge, the Sha- 
mokin Hills, and the stream where, in the stormy days 
of the Revolution, some survivors of the Wyoming 
Massacre floated down on rafts, flatboats, and canoes. 

173 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

The southern sweep of the eyes takes in the beautiful 
island between Northumberland and Sunbury (where 
two hundred and fifty acres were bought in 1788 for 
$1600), the town of Sunbury, nestling along the river, 
and, beyond the enticing bends, the blue waters and the 
precipitous banks of the Susquehanna. The northern 
vista is made up of a delightful mixture of river, moun- 
tains, and fertile farms. 

Blue Hill was a frequent resort of Shikelliniy, who 
lived on what is now one of the best kept farms in the 
neighborhood, on the west bank of the Susquehanna, 
four miles from Lewisburg and less than fifteen miles 
from Northumberland. Within a short distance of 
his home he had a number of routes he liked to take 
when he was in the mood to wander in this vast 
hunting ground of the Iroquois. Not far away, across 
the river, was the mouth of Chillisquaque Creek, whose 
name is a variation of Chillicothe, one of the tribes of 
the Shawnees. On the boundary line between Union 
and Snyder counties, in the Wliite Mountains, is the 
Devil's Den, a sink on the top of a mountain where 
numerous wild animals could be found. Farther along, 
in the "tight end" of Buffalo Valley, is the beginning of 
the gorge of the Karoondinha, whose glorious scenery 
continues as far as Cob urn in Center County. At the 
beginning of the gorge the Paddy Mountains and the 
White Mountains come so near to each other that one 
is apt to think he might almost throw a stone across 
the valley. 

This is one of the spots where it is well to go alone 
and revel in beauty and peace. The visitor to the val- 
ley may be alone, but he need not be lonely. Every- 
where there may be silence, but the silence should not 
be oppressive. For the friendly mountains speak in a 
12 177 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

language that makes loneliness impossible. What do 
they say? Go and hear for yourself. Take your troub- 
les there, and note how marvelously they melt. away. 
In contact with the majestic mountains there you may 
gain peace for tunuilt, repose for weariness, strength 
for weakness, courage for faintheartedness. 

But the mountain lover can find solitude without 
going farther from the river bank than Lewisburg. lie 
can be alone on a number of heights near the town, and 
can still feel that he is in touch with the throbbing life 
of the valley spread out before him. Some of those 
who settled the town in the days when the Indians were 
,>et in the valley made what others thought were wild 
prophecies of the future development of the surround- 
ing country. 

The future did not look promising in 1777. Then 
the dread of the Indian came to a head at the time of 
what became known as "the great runaway." Ever 
since the Fort Stanwix treaty of 1768 hardy frontiers- 
men had been building their cabins and clearing their 
fields along the river in what is now Lycoming County. 
They scorned to give way to the terrors of earlier years; 
but in 1777 the dread of the Indians, who, they learned, 
were coming down the river, became so great that they 
fled in a panic, bound for Fort Augusta. A vivid picture 
of this "runaway" was written in days when the In- 
dians were still more than a tradition in the valley: 

"Boats, canoes, long-troughs, rafts hastily made of 
dry sticks, every sort of floating article had been put in 
requisition, and were crowded with women and chil- 
dren antl 'plunder.' There were several hundred people 
in all. \Yhenever any obstruction occurred at a shoal 
or a riffle, the women would leap out and put their 
shoulder to the flatboat or raft, and launch it again 

178 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

into deep water. TIic men of the settlement came down 
in single file on each side of the river to guard the women 
and children." 

The strange flotilla proceeded along the river past 
the site of the present city of Williamsport, around 
the mountain whose presence obstructs the passage of 
the river, turning then to the south and on down by 
Fort Muncy and Milton and Northumberland to Sun- 
bury. The Indians pursued as far as Fort Muncy, but, 
after destroying the blockhouse there, they gave up the 
chase. Probably Fort Augusta's strength was so great 
that they were afraid to venture against it. 

Eleven years after the " great runaway," two hun- 
dred Indians and one hundred British regulars sur- 
rounded and captured Fort Freeland, eight miles north- 
east of Milton, located on Warren Run, in a beautiful 
region frequently called Paradise. 

From Milton to Muncy, even by the winding river 
road, i3 only about eighteen miles. One of the sights of 
the town at this great bend of the Susquehanna is 
the monument to Captain John Brady who, was sent in 
1778 to protect the settlers on the West Branch. Ilis 
faithful service encouraged many to renew the fight 
with the wilderness. 

Muncy is the point of departure for Eaglesmere. The 
road leads along winding Muncy Creek, through a 
valley bordered by mountains whose forest-covered 
slopes seem but a continuation of the green fields that 
lead up to them. Sometimes the mountains approach 
the road closely, as at Picture Rocks, where is the rugged 
cliff used for centuries by the chiefs of the Loyalsock 
and Muncy valleys to tell vividly the story of great 
events in the life of the tribe. There are no pictures 

179 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

there now, for the soft rocks have lost their surface. 
But the bold precipice is still there. 

Near Tivoli the valley seems to be shut in by the 
mountains, but the highway winds among the encir- 
cling hills until It finds a path on into Sullivan County. 

Steadily upward mounts the road until, after miles of 
scenery that no one should miss, though most travelers 
do miss it, because it is in a section where the turnpikes 
are not at their best, beautiful Eaglesmere is reached, 
at an altitude of more than two thousand feet. Rocks 
and hills surround this gem of the mountains; forest 
and glen and waterfall vie with each other to make the 
region attractive. It is said that some of the depths of 
this spring-fed lake have never been sounded. 

Once the six hundred acres of blue water now known 
as Eaglesmere bore the name of the Englishman Lewis 
who built glassworks to take advantage of the fine glass 
sand on the west shore of the lake. The war of 181'2 
and poor transportation facilities combined to drive 
him out of business. 

Of course Eaglesmere has its legend. It is said that 
once there was no lake here, but only a great chasm. 
In the chasm was an entrance to the underworld, where 
the spirit of the Indian who had wronged his neigh- 
bors, or had failed to do the work expected of him 
when he was alive, was confiined until he should make 
everything right. 

The Indians believed that six hundred armed spirits 
stood at the entrance to the underworld, to keep out 
those who had no right to enter. Fear of these spirits 
deterred most people; but Stormy Torrent, a powerful 
chief, resolved to make the attempt. His purpose 
became known. Efforts to dissuade him were In vain. 
Finally thousands of Indians gathered to see him brave 

ISO 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

the anger of the spirits. The instant he stepped into 
the gorge, they were awed by the breaking of a great 
storm. When this was over the chasm was filled as it is 
to-day. Next day "a cloudless sky looked down on 
the waters of a beautiful, tranquil lake, clear as crystal." 

Somehow it has not been thought necessary to devise 
a tale to account for Hunter's Lake, a body of water 
half as large as Eaglesmere, and but four miles distant. 
This was long a favorite resort for fishermen. 

A thirdnotable lake inSullivan County, Lake Ganoga, 
is less than fifteen miles southeast of Eaglesmere, but by 
the roundabout road made necessary by the difficulties 
of this highland region the distance is more than twice 
as great. This road leads through La Porte, the county 
seat, whose altitude is about nineteen hundred feet. 
Ganoga Lake is near the summit of the main range of 
the Allegheny Mountains, and is 2235 feet above the 
sea — the highest body of fresh water east of the Rocky 
Mountains. The altitude of the lake can be appreciated 
by those who climb to it through the wild glen where 
are thirty-three cascades, several of them more than 
one hundred feet high. 

All about Lake Ganoga is a vast forest, reminder of 
the day when practically the entire county was cov- 
ered with trees. Scores of square miles of these were 
felled and the logs were sent to the mill by way of 
Muncy Creek or Loyalsock Creek. By a series of 
dams these waterways were made to do the bidding of 
the lumbermen. 

Soon after Loyalsock Creek crosses into Lycoming 
County, it flows through Loyalsock forest, another 
of the state forest reservations where tremendous strides 
have been made in the conservation of the timber re- 
sources that once seemed doomed to utter destruction. 

181 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Two more of llie plunging creeks of tliis well-watered 
country had a prominent part in early history — Lycom- 
ing Creek and Tiadaghton or Pine Creek. AVhen the 
region was first opened for settlement there were so 
many applicants for each three hundred acres of land 
which a settler might own that it became necessary to 
have a lottery. Scores of allotments were made east of 
Lycoming Creek. Many wished to go west toward 
what is now known as Pine Creek. But the authorities 
were uncertain whether the treaty made with the 
Indians allowed settlement farther west; the limit of its 
purchase was Tiadaghton Creek, and they could not 
tell whether the creek that enters the Susquehanna at 
the present site of Williamsport or that which comes 
from the north beyond Jersey Shore was Tiadaghton. 
Accordingly it was announced that those who settled 
beyond what is now known as Lycoming Creek must 
do so at their own risk; they could not count on the 
protection of the law. 

The pioneers beyond Lycoming thereupon decided 
to be a law unto themselves. Every year they elect(Ml 
three men, who were charged with the settlement of iill 
disputes. These were called "fair-play men." From 
their decision there was no appeal, and all were bound 
to enforce it. Anyone who refused to obey was set 
adrift on the Susquehanna in a canoe, at the north 
of the Lycoming. 

Of the stories told of the "fair-play men" the best is 
the narrative of their interest in the discussion of Con- 
gress at Philadelphia in the days of 177G. This culmi- 
nated in a public meeting, held on Pine Creek, when 
they declared themselves independent of Great Britain. 
This meeting was held on July 4, 1776! 

The rule of the fair-pla}' men lasted until 1784, 

182 



THE PENNSYLVANIA IIICIILANDS 

when it was Icuriied that ilic 'J'iadaglilon Creek of the 
treaty was really Pine Creek, not Lycoming. Accord- 
ingly the settlers between the creeks who had persevered 
were given title to three hundred acres each. 

The place on the Siis(iuehanna where the fair-play 
men set afloat recalcitrants became the site of Williams- 
port, long famous as tlie liealthiest city in Pennsylvania 
and the fourth city for health in tlie United States. 
Perhaps one of the reasons for this fine record is a 
situation so beautiful thai those who live there liave no 
excuse for being dull or dispirited. The long straight- 
away of the river is dis[)layed from Bald Eagle Mountain 
south of the city, while the foothills of tlie Alleghenies 
to the north are a restful sight to tlie weary and an 
inspiration always. In fact, the city has one of the 
choice locations of a county of which men have said 
that here the handiwork of Nature is as prominently 
displayed as in any county in the state. 

Williamsport did not begin to grow rapidly until 
James IL Perkins, a New IIamj)shire man, had the 
daring vision of an immense log boom by means of 
which tlie logs floated down the Susquehanna and its 
tributaries could be collected for later transport to 
sa\vmills down the river. He did not see why the 
logs of pine and hemlock should be built into rafts 
before being sent to market, when a boom such as he 
had in mind would solve alldifliculties. Ac(rordingly he 
built the boom, whose capacity was 300,000,000 feet 
of timber. 

The sending of single logs instead of rafts down the 
tributary creeks led to troul^le. As always when a labor 
saving plan is adopted, there was an outcry from those 
who thought their occupation was endangered. The 
raftsman organized. Public meetings were held t(j 

183 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

denounce the log floaters. One such meeting, held 
on November 1, 1853, determined that "at all hazards 
to our person and property the floating of logs in the 
Moshannon Creek shall from this night cease." Before 
the meeting adjourned a committee was appointed to 
devise means of ending the abuse, "peaceably, if they 
can, forcibly if they must." Another meeting at Clear- 
field insisted that log floating would have a ruinous 
effect on "the development and prosperity of our now 
flourishing and interesting country." At this meeting 
also it was decided to fight, if need arose, to save "our 
ancient system of lumbering." 

Not many years elapsed, however, before even the 
most bitter opponent of the new system was compelled 
to own that the anticipated curse was proving a blessing 
— a blessing that might have been immensely greater 
if steps had been taken to replant the forests or to pro- 
tect the young trees from forest fires. Not until the 
State Forestry Department began work were the neces- 
sary reforms undertaken. 

The city is the center of one of the Forestry Depart- 
ment's greatest activities. The Bald Eagle forest, south 
of Williamsport, and Gray's Run forest, to the north, are 
object lessons of what can be done for the scientific care 
of trees. But the care of these and other forests was 
begun too late to save the vast resources of pine timber. 
In 1910 the last log was floated down the West Branch, 
and in 1911 the Williamsport boom was removed. 

No one who has the opportunity to revel in the ever- 
changing vistas provided so generously by the Susque- 
hanna can afford to miss the stretch between Williams- 
port and Jersey Shore. But it is just as difficult to think 
of failure to pass through the rare section of country 
south of the river, between these points. The memo- 

184 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

ries of a leisurely jaunt over the twenty miles, more or 
less, of hill and valley road will be a perennial joy. The 
very names of the townships passed through whet the 
appetite: Susquehanna, B astress, Limestone, Nippenose. 
Bastress township takes its name from the town, situa- 
ted in a valley noted for beauty and fertility. A little 
to the south of Bastress the highway joins the valley 
road that leads northwest back to the Susquehanna 
and Jersey Shore. It will be hard to resist the tempta- 
tion to turn to the left, and pass on to the lovely White 
Deer Hole Valley, just over the mountains. But the 
road to the right through the Nippenose Valley leads 
to Jersey Shore — unless one yields to other allurements 
of this richly dowered region. The valley, with its 
seven surrounding mountains and its Oriole Cave, 
which dates back only to 1896, when it startled the 
residents by its sudden appearance, should satisfy any 
normal appetite for the beautiful. But will it, when one 
learns that it is only necessary to turn aside along 
Ranch's Creek, through Ranch's Gap, to Rauchtown, 
and that "there is no finer or wilder rocky gorge in the 
eastern states except perhaps Crawford Notch and the 
Old Man of the Mountain in the White Mountains of 
New England?" On the gorge's bill of fare are "castel- 
lated crags, lofty precipices, dim caverns, winding 
defiles, dizzy peaks." Readers of these descriptions 
will be able to enter into the feelings of their author, 
who, when speaking to the writer of this volume of the 
wonders of his native Pennsylvania Highlands, said 
he was living in the memory of the grandeur of the 
mountains and the loveliness of the valleys, and was 
longingly waiting for the chance for another soul-satis- 
fying pilgrimage thither. 
It is a simple matter to turn aside once for a side trip. 

185 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

But what if one side trip leads to a second, and the 
second to a third? For as surely as the unwary pilgrim 
yields to the mute invitation of southern Lycoming until 
he reaches the gorge of Ranch's Creek, just so surely 
will he wish to forget schedules (those mortal enemies of 
vacation joys) long enough to follow the old lumber road 
up Gotschall Run, whose wild beauty w ill prove all the 
justification needed for schedule murder. The penalty 
for taking this added bit of enjoyment will be nothing 
more than the extension of the tour in the back country 
to McElhattan, in Clinton County, on the Susquehanna. 
From there the way will be easy along the winding 
Susquehanna east to Jersey Shore. 

Yes, there will be a second item in the penalty — the 
necessity of pausing at Jersey Shore at least long enough 
to take the road to the south and look at what might 
have been seen if the scheduled course had been followed 
toward the river, when the invitation came to go aside 
to Rauchtown. Within a few miles we find the spring 
which is the source of Center Creek (marked by one of 
the pillars from the old state capitol at Harrisburg, 
erected here in 1900 to commemorate the two hun- 
dredth anniversary of Penn's treaty with Chief Wi- 
daagh, who in 1700 granted the territory for settle- 
ment), the gorge of Antes Valley, Widaagh's Spring (at 
the foot of Bald Eagle Mountain), and the site of 
Antes Fort, the stronghold of Indian days, with its com- 
memorative tablet erected by the Daughters of the 
American Revolution. 

Jersey Shore was named by settlers whose loyalty to 
the old home in New Jersey persisted in spite of the 
allurements of the ever changing glories of the new 
home. There was little in the new situation to make 
them think of the state between the Delaware and the 

186 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

sea; so they satisfied homesickness in an easy and com- 
mendable fashion. 

One of the features of the country that lured the 
pioneers of Jersey Shore was the Tiadaghton or Pine 
Creek, famous in early days because of Indian raids, 
prominent in later years because of the dozen billion 
feet of white pine timber floated on its surface to the 
boom at Williamsport and to the mills beyond, and 
notable always by reason of its passage through what 
has been called "the great Pennsylvania canyon." So 
what if the scheduled route does call now for a speedy 
return to Williamsport? "Wlio could pass by Pine 
Creek if there is any possibility of exploring for a 
few miles the rugged stream that leads through the 
Black Forest reservation and waters the base of ridges 
once covered with noble trees, but which now are 
barren because of forest fires and unscientific lumbering 
operations.'^ 

A railroad follows Pine Creek. But why take a train 
through such a gorge as this, if it is possible to ride in a 
slow-moving machine, or, l)etter, to clamber along on 
foot? Of course the rear car of the train affords a good 
view of the country after it has gone by. But why not 
be where there is no one to say nay when the desire 
comes to linger m a specially attractive spot? And 
isn't it much better to be able to touch the water of 
the stream at will than, riding by, to think how good 
that water would feel? It is good to crane the neck 
from the car window for a view of the rocky sides of 
the canyon; but far more satisfying is the upward look 
that takes in both walls at once, and a section of the 
blue sky above. The passenger can appreciate the 
engineering difficulties surmounted by those who built 
the old Pine Creek and Jersey Shore Railway, through 

187 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

mountains long thought insurmountable; but in ten 
minutes the pedestrian can see more of engineering 
triumphs than the passenger can discover in an hour. 

A second creek road leads directly north from Jersey 
Shore. It is possible to follow this to Steam Valley, 
there joining the road which in due time the writer 
proposes to take from Williamsport. But the creek 
road is worth a round trip, if only to see how a stream 
can really meander if it takes a notion. Eleven times 
in seven miles the creek is crossed by the highway, 
whose course is comparatively straight for a Lycoming 
County road. 

After the creek of many crossings comes the oppor- 
tunity for the neglected stretch of Susquehanna's 
waters between Jersey Shore and Williamsport. Touch 
with half a dozen brawling creeks, tossing through their 
narrow courses, will give renewed appetite for the 
miles in the valley of the river that pushes patiently 
onward in its search for an opening leading to the point 
of union with its sister river from the northeast. 

Williamsport is the gateway to another of the tur- 
bulent streams of Lycoming, the creek which gives its 
name to the county. In its valley may be seen moun- 
tains in profusion, gorges, waterfalls, and tributary 
runs without number rushing down from the uplands. 
Here was the route of the Indian to central New York, 
traces of their Sheshequin trail still being visible. Here 
lumbermen by the thousand floated rafts and single 
logs from the forests of Tioga and Bradford counties 
to Williamsport. Up the creek rollicking crews toiled 
on their return to the camps, following Lycoming as 
far as Trout Run, then ascending that creek, crossing 
the mountain, and pushing on to the head of Tioga 
Valley — jolly, shouting, singing companies whose prog- 
18S 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

ress demanded the attention of everybody within reach 
of voices that carried far in the mountain air. 

But the lower reaches of the Lycoming are best known 
because here was the beginning of the old Williamson 
Road, otherwise called the Blockhouse Road, whose 
story is one of the romances of the central Pennsyl- 
vania country. 

The first chapter of the story was written in 1792, 
when Charles Williamson, whose principals were in 
England, bought more than a million acres of land in 
Pennsylvania and New York from Robert Morris. He 
was in Northumberland when a message came to him 
that a large company of emigrants was on the way, and 
that he was to lead them through the Pennsylvania 
wilderness. 

He had a choice of routes. He might take them up 
the Susquehanna to Tioga Point, and from there by 
land; or he might take them directly north. The 
former route was long and there would be grave dan- 
gers of many kinds, and the latter route did not exist. 

He did not hesitate long. If there was no road 
through the wild country, it should be built, even if the 
distance was more than one hundred miles. In response 
to his appeal for help the Pennsylvania Assembly 
granted him one hundred pounds. Undiscouraged by 
this pitifully small appropriation, he began work as 
soon as the emigrants were ready to make the journey. 

His plan was to direct the men in the party as they 
broke a section of the wilderness. When the way was 
open for a short distance, a log house was built for 
shelter. Here provisions were left for the women and 
children, who were brought to the end of the first stage. 
Then the road makers continued their toil until there 
was need for a second shelter, and the women and chil- 

189 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

dren could advance another stage. The temporary 
shelter, or blockhouse, gave the first name to the road. 

The provisions were brought from Northumberland 
by pack horses, until that point was too far in the rear; 
then other sources of supplies had to be sought. Once, 
when the company was almost out of food, a messenger 
was sent from Canoe Camp across to Tioga Point (now 
Athens), on the North Branch of the Susquehanna. On 
his return to the emigrants there was a great feast. 

The road followed the Sheshequin trail up the Loyal- 
sock to Trout Run, then on to Blossburg and Canoe 
Camp. Here canoes were built and the party floated 
down stream to Painted Post, New York. The final 
stage of the journey was to the site of the town of Bath, 
which was then founded. 

When the completion of the road was announced, in 
1796, there was great excitement. This was the first 
highway in all this section, and it shortened the distance 
from Northumberland to Painted Post about one hun- 
dred miles, opening to settlement a wide territory. 

Williamson's next step was a triumph of advertising 
genius. He sent announcements of the completion of 
the road to Harrisburg, as well as to Washington, and 
these were read to the lawmakers assembled there. 
Coupled with the announcements was an mvitation to 
all who would to come through the wilderness, over the 
Blockliouse Road, and be the guests of its builders dur- 
ing a two weeks' program of theatrical performances, 
races, and other amusements. Promise was made that 
guides would be waiting at Philadelphia, Easton, Lan- 
caster, Carlisle, Harrisburg, and Northumberland, to 
give safe conduct to prospective guests. 

The invitation was accepted by hundreds. It is re- 
corded that for weeks the road through the wilderness 

190 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

was traversed by a procession almost unbroken. Some- 
times the old blockhouses were used at night. Again a 
camp would be made by the roadside. Probably the 
travelers stopped one night with the keeper of a tavern 
who, later on, made unrighteous profits by driving into 
a hidden forest pen the cattle of emigrants who stopped 
with him, and, as a result always had large quantities 
of what he called elk meat ! 

For thirty years after the triumphal pilgrimage of 
the invited guests of the proprietor, the Williamson 
Road was the recognized highway for emigrants bound 
to north-central Pennsylvania and southern New York. 

Travelers to-day will find this a thoroughfare of mar- 
velous interest. It is difiicult to compare the scenery of 
one section with that of another; the best possible state- 
ment is that from Williamsport to Blossburg there is 
such satisfying variety of all the best and richest in 
landscape that one is eager at once to turn round and 
go back over the road. Near Trout Run, fourteen 
miles from Williamsport, is Crescent Gap, where the 
Lycoming makes a crescent-shaped sweep in breaking 
through the mam chain of the Alleghenies. From 
Trout Run to Liberty views of the valley and the dis- 
tant mountains rejoice the heart. From Liberty to 
Blossburg there is such a profusion of beauty that many 
who have lingered over this bit of the road declare they 
have seen nothing in the Rockies so fine. 

At Blossburg — the road builders called the place 
Peters's Camp — coal was discovered in October, 1792. 
While many years passed before the value of the dis- 
covery was recognized, the district was among the first 
to have railroad transportation for the promotion of 
the coal trade. By 1840 the road to the Chemung 
River and canal was opened. 

191 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

From Blossburg to Wellsboro, by way of Canoe 
Camp, there are prospects so fine that an appetite is 
created for the side trip from Wellsboro to Antrim. 
The route of the railroad leads into the heart of the 
finest of the country, though the highway which runs 
at some distance from the railroad also offers pleasing 
variety of striking landscape. The view into the valley 
where Wellsboro has its seat is best from Round Top on 
the railroad, while all the way to Brownlee there is a 
prospect to Pine Creek and the mountain ridge beyond. 
The end of the line is at Antrim, a coal center developed 
since 1866 in what was till then a wilderness, and still 
boasts surroundings inviting in their wildness. Black- 
well's forest, which stretches to the north of Antrim, 
wall preserve for future generations some of the wild 
scenes of former days. 

Wellsboro, Tioga's county seat, is in Delmar town- 
ship. There is a story behind that name. The first 
settlers, being from Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland, 
were unable to agree on a name for the locality; each 
wanted to honor his own state. So there was a compro- 
mise, Vir-del-mar being the strange result. Fortu- 
nately, on the organization of the township in 1808, the 
first syllable was omitted. 

The highway from Wellsboro across the center of 
Tioga County to Galeton and Coudersport in Potter 
County has well been called by travelers the scenic 
route. Almost all the way the Valleys of creeks are 
followed closely, with mountains about them on either 
hand. To the north, soon after leaving Wellsboro, is 
the Chatham forest, whose Asaph nursery for seedling 
trees makes easy a first-hand study of an important 
part of the work of the State Department of Forestry. 
Millions of seedlings of pine, spruce, and other trees are 

192 




].\ riiK iii;mli)(K kdkest 
Plioto liy State 1 )c|)ait mciit (if Forestry 





UVINS OK Ol.K HI 1.1. S CASTl.K, Dl.KO.NA 
rhoti) by t^tati Depart iiiont uf Foifstry 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

shipped each year from this nursery, both to private 
individuals and to other state forests. 

Almost directly south of Galeton is another of the 
most celebrated of the forest reserves, but it is best to 
postpone a visit to this until a road can be taken south- 
east from Coudersport. The road leads over the ridge 
of the Allegheny basin, whose height is at least four 
hundred feet greater than the Susquehanna basin, and 
the outlook on valley and mountain is correspondingly 
delightful. This is the county where the Allegheny, 
the Genesee, and the Sinnemahoning have their source 
— streams that flow to the St. Lawrence, the Gulf of 
Mexico, and Chesapeake Bay. This fact is a guarantee 
of worth-while scenery. 

But the Coudersport and Jersey Shore turnpike is 
noted for something more than fine scenery, or the 
state forest in the southeast corner of the county, or 
the observation tower at Cherry Springs where rangers 
watch for signs of forest fires and where tourists may 
climb and on a clear day see south to Lock Haven and 
north to the New York state line. Not the least of its 
claims to distinction is that it runs through the valley 
where, in 1852, Ole Bull, the Norwegian violinist, made 
his ill-starred attempt to colonize a company of fellow- 
Norwegians. Oleona and Cartee Camp, villages on the 
line of the road, are reminders of the historic failure. 

The impulse that led to the purchase of thousands of 
acres of land on and near Little Kettle Creek came 
when his countrymen who had settled in the South told 
him of their privations, hardships, and poor health. 
He made up his mind to have for them a home in Potter 
County, to "found a new Norway, consecrated to lib- 
erty, baptized with independence, and protected by 
the Union's mighty flag." 

13 193 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Some eight hundred settlers took possession of the 
three hundred houses built. There were also a store and 
a chureh. The founder built for himself a castle of 
feudal proportions, on a bluff overlooking Little Kettle 
Creek, not far from the village now known as Oleona. 

For some months all went well. On February G, 
1853, Ole Bull wrote to his brother: 

"Of my activity as leader and controller of my little 
state in IVimsylvania, you can have a conception only 
when you know that I am engaged sinuillaneously in 
laying out live villages, and contracting with the gov- 
ernment for the casting of cannon, some two thousand 
in all . . . 

"Philadelphia has subscribed two millions to the 
Sunbury and Eric road, which goes near the colony on 
the south; New York has also given two millions to a 
branch of the Erie and New York road from Elmira to 
Oleona, the northern line of the colony. 

"So many have applied for land that I have been 
obliged to look out for more; I have bought !:?0,000 acres 
to the west, and in the adjoining county (McKean) 1 
have the refusal of ll!2,000 acres. In Wyoming County 
I am contracting for an old deserted foundry with forest, 
water-power, work-shop, and dwellings, and am taking 
out patents in Washington for a new smelting furnace 
for cannon." 

In intervals between concert tours the great violinist 
liked to go among his people and live in the old castle. 
It is still a tradition of the neighborhood that he found 
his greatest delight in playing his violin on the ramparts 
of the castle or on the banks of Kettle Creek. Therc he 
would "reproduce the rush and roar of rapid streams, 
the frolic of the winds through the rocky glens, and the 
tempest's crash on the mountain top." 

But disaster came. One night when he was enter- 
taining guests at dinner a man brought word from a 

194 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

merchant of Philadelphia that the agents who had 
sold him the lands on which the colony was built were 
scoundrels; that the merchant was the real owner of 
the forest acres whose wildness had attracted the 
violinist. 

Ole Bull hurried that very night to Lock Haven, 
took stage to the railroad, and was soon in Philadelphia. 
The owner told him how he had tried in vain to over- 
take him with legal notice, as soon as recovery from an 
attack of yellow fever enabled him to learn the facts. 

The owner expressed hearty sympathy with Ole Bull 
and offered to give him a good title to the land for a 
price that was merely nominal. The artist, however, 
was unable to do more than protect the residents 
already on the land. In vain the head of the colony 
pressed charges against the malefactors. For a long 
time he was unable to secure justice, and he became the 
victim of their relentless pursuit and persecution. For 
five years he fought them, earning the costs of the suit 
by giving concerts, and at the end of that time he 
received small damages. 

During these years of trial Harriet Beecher Stowe 
and James Gordon Bennett were among influential 
friends who came to his help. Once, when his reputation 
was being assailed, Mr. Bennett offered him the columns 
of The New York Herald to make answer. But Bull 
replied: "I tink, ISIr. Benneett, it is best ley write 
against me, and I plays against tem." 

Most of the colonists found their way to the West. A 
few remained, among them Ole Bull's secretary, John 
Andriessen, who was a storekeeper in Oleona for forty 
years after the collapse of the colony. 

To-day there are but two or three buildings left of 
those so hopefully constructed. xVmong these is the 

195 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

castle, whose ruins, within the limits of the Ole Bull 
forest, are carefully preserved by the Department of 
Forestry. The walls look down on "a sheer descent of 
three hundred feet to where Kettle Creek winds about 
like a thread of silver. Across the ravine is another 
mountain, as steep but not as high as the one on which 
the castle is located." 

The Coudersport and Jersey Shore turnpike makes 
easy access to the wildest part of Potter County. This 
road was begun in 1829, but was not in good condition 
for many years, until the State Highway Department 
took it in hand. It is a route that appeals to the sports- 
man as well as to the lover of the beauty of the primi- 
tive forests. A writer in In the Open, a Pittsburgh 
sportsman's magazine, once said of the thoroughfare 
and its surroundings: 

"It traverses and borders state forest land for a dis- 
tance of fifty miles. It passes through some of the best 
fishing and hunting sections of the state. The route is 
unique in that it traverses an uninhabited region and 
one may travel sixteen miles without passing a dwelling. 
The bear, deer, and elk are free to roam where they 
please, and occupy a vast, unbroken domain of 150,000 
acres." 

No wonder sportsmen talk of Potter County as the 
greatest outing spot in Pennsylvania. Its two hundred 
miles of attractive roads, its numerous fine streams, its 
seven hundred thousand acres of wild land fit only for 
timber and game, and the thousands of acres of state 
forest land combine to make a sportsman's paradise. 

Once it was thought that oil might be discovered in 
this section of the state, but the wells driven near Cou- 
dersport and elsewhere in 1885 and 1886 remained dry. 
The search for mineral wealth brought to light numerous 

196 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

treasures of the sort that procure profit not of the 
material kind. Of these one is known as the "Sweden 
Valley Ice mine," a few miles from Coudersport, on the 
road to Oleona. Here was found the entrance to a cave, 
perhaps fifteen feet deep, where in midsummer the wa- 
ter from the rocks becomes ice. On the walls icicles 
form, and on the floor there is a sheet of ice that becomes 
thicker until fall. Then it disappears, and in winter 
there is no ice in the cave. 

This natural ice house would have been a conven- 
ience to the early settlers of the county if they had 
known of its existence. Yet the lack of ice in summer 
was far from being their greatest privation. In 1811 a 
pioneer who was out of flour went to Jersey Shore with 
two yoke of oxen. On the way down he crossed Pine 
Creek eighty times. The time required for the round 
trip was eighteen days. The breaking of two axle trees, 
two upsets, and the loss of a wheel in crossing Pine 
Creek at one point were incidents of the trip. For sixty 
miles the road was without a house. 

Coudersport, one of the towns where some of the 
early settlers congregated, has the distinction of being 
the first of the hundreds of towns and cities in the great 
Ohio Valley; the Allegheny River rises less than five 
miles away. Thence the road west toward McKean 
County follows closely the windings of the river as far as 
Port Allegany. Thence the stream turns northward 
for a taste of New York state before making up its 
mind to pursue its devious course toward the Gulf of 
Mexico. It is a curious phenomenon that the North 
Branch of the Susquehanna enters New Y'ork in a similar 
manner, only to leave it after as brief an acquaintance 
with Pennsylvania's northern neighbor as the Allegheny 
makes. Because of the vagaries of these two streams, 

197 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

two New York cities, Oleaii and Binghaniton (near 
the border), arc situated on rivers that belong to 
Pennsylvania. 

Port Allegany once boasted a name much more pic- 
turesque. As Canoe Place the site was known both to 
Indians and emigrants, who, after ascending the West 
Branch of the Susquehanna as far as Emporium, would 
cross the divide to the Allegheny, build canoes here, and 
lioat down the latter stream. 

This gateway to the upper Allegheny country gives a 
pleasant foretaste of the rich series of exquisite land- 
scapes to be observed by those who know the lower 
waters. From the hills that limit the valley where the 
town is built there is a wide-spreading outlook up 
stream and down stream as well as toward Smethport, 
the county seat. 

The high lands about Smethport, east to Port Alle- 
gany and northwest to Bradford, became a fertile field 
for oil promoters. In 18G1 the first producing well in 
the county wiis sunk at Smethport. Later there were 
hundreds of wells in the county. 

To Prospect Hill, two miles west of Smethport, one of 
the highest points in the state, a pilgrimage should be 
made for tlie sake of a comprehensive look at the surface 
of a county whose distinguishing features are tablelands 
near the center some two thousand feet above sea level, 
and valleys of streams, at least four hundred feet lower. 
The result is an extremely broken surface that makes 
landscapes entirely different from those provided in 
most other parts of the state. 

Ceres, in the northeast corner of the county, shares 
with Smethport the honor of being among the earliest 
settlements in McKean. A number of the oldest roads 
in the region radiated from Ceres, among these being 

198 





.<\ 




THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

one to the south, and one into New York state, to a 
junction with the Hamilton Road, the route of emigrants 
from the East to the Allegheny River at Olean. From 
Smethport also there is a road north to Olean. This 
follows the Allegheny to the point where the Hamilton 
Road emigrants took skiff or canoe or flatboat for the 
western counties of Pennsylvania, or for the Ohio 
River region. 

From Olean east to Elmira the searcher for Pennsyl- 
vania scenic glories can retrace in a general way the 
route taken by these emigrants and can feel that he is on 
a road that is almost as much a part of the highway 
system of the state to the south as is the National Road 
in northern Maryland, for it also is closely related to 
the history of the state. Then the scenery of Allegany, 
Steuben, and Chemung counties is akin to that of the 
counties over the line in Pennsylvania. 

A few miles west of Elmira the road crosses the 
route taken by the makers of the Williamson Road 
from Northumberland in 1792. All the way from El- 
mira to Wilkes-Barre, it is in the valley of romantic 
streams, first the Chemung, then the West Branch of 
the Susquehanna. 

Soon after the boundary of Pennsylvania is crossed 
the attention is attracted by the regular contour of 
what is called Spanish Hill. From the summit, one 
thousand feet above the sea, and nearly three hundred 
feet above the river, there is a view that will repay the 
trouble of the ascent. The name is a reminder of the 
tradition that the mound is the work of the Spaniards. 
With just as much reason it has been attributed to the 
Scandinavians and the Mound Builders. Yet the geolo- 
gists say that it is a natural feature, probably the most 
recent geological formation of the valley. When the 

199 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

continental glaciers passed this way, coming out of the 
valley of the Susquehanna, this was perhaps a part of 
the terminal moraine. 

Naturally the Indians took advantage of a site so 
easily fortified, and had here one of their strongholds. 
Traces of their work have been found on the hill. 

Alexander Wilson, when making his trip to Niagara 
Falls, gave rein to his poetic tendencies when he looked 
at the eminence: 

"Now to the left the ranging mountains bend 
And level plains before us wide extend; 
When, rising lone, old Spanish Hill appears, 
The post of war in ancient unknown years. 
Its steep and rounding sides with woods embrowned. 
Its level top with old entrenchments crowned; 
Five hundred paces thence we measured o'er. 
Ere all its circling boundaries we explore. 
Now overgrown with woods alone it stands, 
And looks abroad o'er open fertile lands." 

Five miles below Spanish Hill is the junction of the 
Chemung and the Susquehanna rivers. The musical 
name the Indians gave the place was Diahoga, "where 
the loving waters meet." There they had a town, the 
largest in the state north of Shamokin, known as the 
"south door" of the Long House of the Six Nations. 
Here, in 1790, Colonel Timothy Pickering held a con- 
ference with the Six Nations. One of those present was 
Thomas Morris, son of Robert Morris, whom the Indians 
adopted into the Seneca nation, the name given him 
being Otetiani, "always ready." 

The modern name of Tioga Point, Athens, was given 
to it by the Connecticut Susquehanna Company in 1786. 
For years before and after that time the place was a 
center of operations against tlie settlers from Pennsyl- 

200 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

vania who opposed the claims of the Connecticut Com- 
pany. From here the Enghsh and Indians assembled 
for their attack on Wyoming in 1778. And here, in 
1787, Colonel John Franklin was arrested and sent in 
irons to Philadelphia, charged with high treason against 
the state as leader of those who planned to organize a 
new state, he being the governor. 

The triangle above the meeting point of the rivers 
presents a remarkable landscape. The rivers are on two 
sides of the almost equilateral triangle. The third side 
is marked by hills not far from the state line. Hills 
beyond the river, from a height of some five hundred 
feet, overlook the common valley, with its fertile farms. 
The apex of the triangle is formed by the narrowing of 
the valley where the rivers start to come together, then 
seem to change their mind and postpone the meeting 
until several miles below. "There is no lovelier spot 
between the Atlantic and the Great Lakes than this 
spot," has been said. "The place is beautiful as the 
gates of paradise," another visitor declared. 

But perhaps the finest tribute ever paid to this gem of 
Pennsylvania scenery was written by N. P. Willis in 
1849: 

" 'A!' Imagine the capital letter laid on its back and 
pointed south by east, and you have a pretty fair dia- 
gram of the junction of the Susquehanna and the Che- 
mung. The note of admiration (exclamation point) 
describes a superb line of mountains at the back of the 
Chemung Valley, and the quotation marks express the 
fine bluffs that overlook the meeting of the waters at 
Athens. The cross of the letter (say a line of four miles) 
defines a road from one river to the other, by which 
travelers up the Chemung save the distance to the point 
of the triangle, and the area between is a broad plain." 

The course of the Susquehanna for some distance is 

201 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

characterized by a succession of cross valleys, shut in 
by ranges of hills through which the river flows. Per- 
haps the loveliest of these is *' the sweet vale of She- 
shequin," about six miles long by two broad, entirely 
surrounded by hills except for the gaps that have been 
made by the river. 

At Towanda three valleys converge, so that the situ- 
ation of the town is remarkably advantageous and pic- 
turesque. Perhaps this is why the Nanticokes were 
attracted to it as a burial place for their dead. The 
Indian name for the burial site was Tawandee, "at the 
burial place." Here David Wilmot, the author of 
the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, was 
buried. 

Below Towanda are many historic sites and noted 
places — the Narrows of the Susquehanna, Wysox Valley 
and^Wysox town, with the boulder and tablet erected by 
the Daughters of the American Revolution to General 
Sullivan, whose expedition marched along these banks 
in 1779, and Standing Stone, opposite a high rock 
across the river, long a landmark of the Indians and 
the pioneers. 

Asylum, a romantic location on the right bank of the 
river, is the memorial of one of the numerous vain 
attempts of enthusiasts to plant colonies in Pennsyl- 
vania. In 1791 the Due de Noailles decided to open 
here an asylum for unfortunate Frenchmen who had 
been driven from home to Santo Domingo by the Revo- 
lution, and later had fled from Santo Domingo because 
of a rebellion of the blacks. In partnership with Mar- 
quis Antoine Omer Talon, Noailles bought 2400 acres 
of land from Robert Morris. The plan called for the 
later purchase of 200,000 acres of wild land, to be cleared 
and cultivated by the colonists. The Asylum Company 

202 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

was formed, and in this Robert Morris was for a time a 
partner. IMore than a score of houses were built for the 
use of Frenchmen who came to the valley, but they had 
not been in them long when disaster overtook the ven- 
ture. Financial difficulties led to the reorganization of 
the company. Then the plans for the cultivation of the 
land by the colonists did not work out. Among the 
emigrants there were comparatively few laborers, the 
majority being made up of men of noble birth, many of 
whom had been members of the king's household. They 
understood the luxuries of city life far better than the 
stern demands of a frontier civilization. The result 
might have been foreseen. 

But, while the colony failed, its short life gave a legacy 
of permanent value to the county. A taste for improved 
modes of living had been brought into a rough commu- 
nity, better roads were demanded, and in numerous 
other ways the influence of colonists of a high type of 
intelligence and training made itself felt. The results 
can be seen to-day. 

It is remarkable that at the time of the Asylum exper- 
iment a notable company of English authors was think- 
ing seriously of emigrating to America and founding a 
colony on the banks of the Susquehanna. Samuel Tay- 
lor Coleridge and Robert Southey were leaders in the 
movement. They had worked out a new scheme of 
living which they called Pantisocracy. In the words of 
Coleridge, the idea was "to remove the selfish principle 
from ourselves, and prevent it in our children, by an 
abolition of property; or, in whatever respects this 
might be impracticable, by such similarity of property 
as would amount to a moral sameness, and answer all 
the purposes of abolition." 

The scheme was still under discussion when a land 

203 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

agent from America persuaded Coleridge that the 
twenty-six adventurers who were to regenerate society 
should settle on the banks of the Susquehanna, because 
of its excessive beauty and security from hostile Indians. 
He told them that £2000 would suffice; that land would 
be cheap; that the twelve men in the party could easily 
clear three hundred acres in four or five months, and 
that for six hundred dollars a thousand acres could be 
cleared and houses built on them ! 

Fortunately the plan died before the impractical 
dreamers embarked on what would surely have been a 
disastrous enterprise. 

A colonizing experiment that was successful, at least 
for a time, was made a few miles farther down stream, 
at Wyalusing. There, about 1765, the Moravians built 
a mission station where there were perhaps forty houses. 
To this they gave the name Friedenshiitten, or "tents 
of peace." The land they occupied was granted to the 
Christian Indians by the Cayugas, but the Fort Stan- 
wix treaty of 1768, in transferring the Susquehanna 
lands to the Penns, failed to make mention of the 
previous grant. For this reason the Moravians thought 
it would be wiser to secure another location, though 
surveyors had been ordered by the governor not to 
operate within five miles of the mission. 

Accordmgly, in 1772, a pilgrimage was made across 
trackless areas to western Pennsylvania. The journey 
made by the "241 individuals, of all ages, with cattle 
and horses, from the North Branch across the Allegheny 
Mountains, to the Ohio, would be even in these days of 
locomotive facilities, a most arduous undertaking." 

Loskiel, the historian of the mission, has left a record 
of the epic journey. Some, he said, went by land, and 
some by water. "The land travelers had to care for 

204 




< - 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

seventy head of oxen, and a still greater number of 
horses, and they sustained incredible hardships in forc- 
ing a way for themselves and the beasts through the 
very thick woods and swamps of very great extent, being 
directed only by a small path, and that hardly discern- 
ible in some places." In the Great Swamp the under- 
growth was so dense that many times it was impossible 
to see one another at the distance of six feet. The 
swamp was sixty miles across. One winding stream 
was crossed thirty-six times. 

The party that went by river had difficulties as great , 
but of a different kind. Yet they managed to get to 
the appointed meeting place, and go on to the chosen 
site for the new mission station at Friedenshiitten in 
Beaver County. 

The roundabout water route from Wyalusing to 
western Pennsylvania is for a long distance by the North 
Branch. Soon after Wyalusing has been left behind this 
cuts across Wyoming County from northwest to south- 
east. At the time of the historic journey much of the 
county was covered by forests, one remnant of which is 
the Wyoming forest, to the south of the river soon after 
it enters Wyoming County. 

Tunkhannock, the county seat of Wyoming, has a 
most eligible location betweeil two hills. One of these 
rises 650 feet above the river, while the other is 1150 
feet high. Tunkliannock Creek, entering the Susque- 
hanna here, adds features of note to the landscape. The 
valley of the creek gives opportunity for a memorable 
vacation ramble. The climax of this ramble would be 
the passage under the great Tunkhannock viaduct, at 
Nicholson, by means of which the Delaware, Lacka- 
wanna and Western Railway crosses from mountain to 
mountain 240 feet above the stream. 

205 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Tunkhannock may be made a starting point for side 
trips to three of the mountain lakes whose beds probably 
were made by the glacial ice cap that is responsible for 
many of the beautiful features of northeastern Pennsyl- 
vania. To the east is dainty Lake W inola, whose out- 
let, Falls Creek, reaches the Susquehanna at Falls 
Station, after making a series of fascinating cascades. 
Buttermilk Falls being the best known of these. To 
the north is Lake Carey, one thousand feet above sea 
level. The road leading to it is an attraction equal to 
the lake. To the south, and just over the line, in Lu- 
zerne County, is Harvey Lake, the largest of the Penn- 
sylvania lakes, whose basin is more than twelve hundred 
feet above sea level. 

Between Tunkhannock and the mouth of the Lacka- 
wanna the Susquehanna breaks through North Moun- 
tain, which forms the rim of the Wyoming Valley, in a 
wide gorge above Pittston. Description of this famous 
valley must be reserved for a later chapter, when the 
entire region from Wilkes-Barre to Scranton will be 
under discussion. 

The Pittston gorge has seen tens of thousands of 
great rafts descend the river to Wilkes-Barre and beyond . 
The movement began as early as 1796, when thirty 
rafts were floated. In 1804 there were 55^ rafts. By 
1827 the trafiBc had increased to such an extent that, 
during five weeks of a single freshet, 1030 rafts and 
arks passed Wilkes-Barre. In four weeks in 1849 the 
total increased to 2243 rafts and 268 arks. Then, 
gradually, the numbers decreased, until to-day even a 
small raft is a curiosity. 

In following the route of the lumber rafts from Wilkes- 
Barre one is attracted by the ridge just below the city 
that rises somewhat abruptly from the north bank, the 

206 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

low-lying islands scattered here and there in the shal- 
low river, and the farm lands on the more gentle slope 
of the south bank. 

Theridgeonthe right bank is of peculiar beauty nearly 
opposite Nanticoke, where the river forms an acute 
double bend. The feature on this side of the stream is a 
mountain 865 feet high. On the opposite bank Kingston 
Mount slopes down to the water. The highway follows 
the ridge on the right bank, now near the level of the 
river, again rising high enough to afford a welcome study 
of water and valley. 

At times the hills are a mass of verdure, but there are 
enough clearings to show what a loss m scenic beauty 
would be caused by the cessation of the conservation 
work of the State Department of Forestry. 

Below Shickshinny the right bank is much more 
broken and open, but on the left bank the hills rise 
almost from the water, and the wanderer by the high- 
way has a better opportunity to view them than the 
passenger on the railway that follows the left bank, 
often on a narrow ledge blasted from the rock. 

Wapwallopen, at the southern end of a long, sharp 
turn in the river, is distinguished by the rugged front 
of Wapwallopen Hill. For a time this will seem 
to shut off the stream like a great dam, but an unex- 
pected turn leads on to reaches that would make the 
observer hold his breath if he had not learned that the 
Susquehanna teaches the necessity of expecting the 
unexpected. 

In the neighborhood of Berwick the river and its 
surroundings are at their best. Here is the introduction 
to Columbia County, whose advantageous location be- 
tween the anthracite regions and the Allegheny Moun- 
tains gives it some of the finest scenery in the state. 

207 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Two early travelers who passed this way did not have 
the pleasure of using such satisfactory roads as are now 
provided by the Slate Highway Department. Colonel 
Thomas Proclor, in 1791, after crossing the river from 
the east side at Berwick, said that he proceeded up the 
west side about twelve miles, and, in endeavoring to go 
through the Narrows, the river being exceedingly high 
and rapid, had a narrow escape from drowning: 

"With great difficulty we surmounted the summit of 
a. stc(;p precipice, being unal^le to return by tlie same 
defile we had attempted to ])ass through. From this I 
endeavored to go around the mountain, which lay along 
the river; and, after having traveled an hour and a half, 
over the most rugged ground, and seeing no end to 
the ridge of mountains, we sliaped our course through 
the woods, to the place from where we departed in the 
morning." 

It was four years later when the Due de la Roche- 
foucauld-Liancourt had his troubles with the roads out 
of Berwick. Learning of a new road, shorter than the 
old, he was ferried across the river to reach it. The 
ferry boat, rowed by a nuin of seventy, was too small. 
The baggage was sent first, with two horses. Two men 
and two horses followed. One horse stepped over the 
low rail into the water. The boat heeled and filled. 
Fortunately the horse was pulled in from the river by 
one of the passengers, and the boat righted just in time. 

When the land was reached there were further diffi- 
culties. The road could not be found. "We had to 
travel eighteen miles over felled trees, deep morasses, 
rocks, and loose stones," the Frenchman said. His 
girth broke, and his saddle loosened. Twice he fell from 
the horse's back. Finally the horse ran away. 

At the time this wanderer floundered on the banks of 

208 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

the Susquehanna, there were still visible reminders of 
the old Shawanese Indian villages between Bloomsburg 
and the mouth of a near by stream whose winding 
course adds a pleasant touch to the landscape spread out 
from the summit of one of the heights near the town. 

Below Bloomsburg the river makes another of its 
sharp turns, then receives the waters of Catawissa 
Creek near the site of what is probably the oldest village 
in Columbia County, called Catawissa as early as 1728. 
Up the valley of the creek leads the Catawissa Railroad, 
from early days one of the most celebrated of the scenic 
railways in eastern Pennsylvania. To-day it is a part 
of the Reading system. From the river far back into 
the interior it leads the way to wild gorges, mountain 
precipices, and sylvan chasms almost without number. 
Possibly the most notable feature on the line is Mainville 
Gap. This, though of course less grand than either the 
Lehigh Gap or the Delaware Gap, is notable among the 
mountain passes of the state, 

Catawissa has its Lover's I^eap — a striking ledge of 
rock, where it is said Minnetunkee, daughter of the 
Delaware chief, Lapackpicton, met her death. Her 
father caught her there with a lover whom he did not 
favor. He fell over the precipice into the river, and 
she threw herself after him. But if every story of a 
"lover's leap" along the Susquehanna is to be ac- 
cci)ted, leaping precipices nuist have been an industry 
that seriously interfered with the growth of the Indian 
residents. 

Indian legends also cluster about the streams and 
hills of Montour County, Columbia's small but beautiful 
and fertile western neighbor. Lapackpicton is the hero 
of some of these. His name is preserved through its 
association with a bold cliff on the right bank, near 
1-4 209 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Danville, which bears a fancied resemblance to a stern 
Indian face. 

The county itself bears the name of an Indian who 
was one of the most picturesque characters of colonial 
days, Andrew Montour. Madame Montour, his 
French mother, was three-quarters white, but after her 
marriage to Carondowana, an Iroquois chief, she pre- 
ferred to live with the Indians. Though a relative of 
Queen Esther, whose conduct at Forty Fort was so 
bloodthirsty, she was a friend of the whites, for whom 
she was able to perform many services, since she was 
influential with the Indians. 

Andrew Montour, her son, frequently went with 
Conrad Weiser to Indian conferences, and he was one 
of the few natives who fought on the side of Braddock 
at Turtle Creek. Later descendants of Madame Mon- 
tour lived at the foot of Montour's Ridge, and one of 
them was honored by the county when it was organized 
out of the neighboring Northumberland County. 

Danville, Montour's county seat, was one of the ear- 
liest iron centers of the state. Montour's Ridge, back 
of the town, is full of iron. But it is just as notable for 
its quiet beauty — beauty that was appreciated by the 
Indians of more than a century ago as much as by their 
successors to-day. How they enjoyed their periodical 
excursions down the valley from the north! How they 
must have lingered over the ever changing glories of 
land and sky and water. How much pleasure they must 
have taken in looking at the triple reflection so often 
seen in the waters of the Susquehanna — the deep green 
of the verdure on the islands, the lighter green of the 
hills, the blue of the sky deepened and emphasized by 
clouds. 

And as later lovers of beauty wander down from 
210 







fr^:^ 



^d?. 











zQ 
z >, 

— s 



THE PENNSYLVANIA HIGHLANDS 

Wilkes-Barre and Danville to Northumberland and 
Harrisburg, they gaze in wordless satisfaction, rejoicing 
to behold those bountiful gifts of Nature of which 
Henry van Dyke sang; 

"These are the things I prize 

And hold of dearest worth: 

Light of the sapphire skies, 

Peace of the silent hills, 
Shelter of forests, comfort of the grass. 
Music of birds, murmur of little rills. 
Shadows of clouds that swiftly pass, 

And, after showers. 

The smell of flowers 

And of the good brown earth." 



ROUTE V 
ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

THE ANTHRACITE COUNTRY AND THE POCONO PLATEAU 
ABOUT 580 MILES 

"Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures 
Whilst the landscape round it measures; 
Russet lawns and fallows gray, 
Where the nibbling flocks do stray, — 
Mountains on whose barren breast 
The laboring clouds do often rest, — 
Meadows trim with daisies pied, 
Shallow brooks, and rivers wide ..." 



E 



VEN though it was of an English landscape Milton 
i sang in ecstasy, his words may well come to the 
lips of one who climbs the nine hundred feet 
above the Schuylkill at Reading to the summit of Mount 
Penn . Except that the mountains are not barren, every 
feature of the English landscape described is reproduced 
in the Schuylkill and Lebanon valleys, four hundred 
square miles of whose surface are open on a f avorableday 
to thegazef rom this summit. Neversink JNIountain, near 
by, provides a different view; but both of these moun- 
tains, alike favorites of the Penns Svhen they set aside 
for a manor the country about what is now Reading, 
look out on green forests and fertile farms, on tree-clad 
mountains and winding rivers, on creeks whose waters 
are lost In the lime-stone formations and on streams 
that persist In their course to the winding river. 

Berks Coimty has a remarkable series of waterways. 
From all sides these tributaries come to the central 
Schuylkill, "the hidden creek" of the Dutch, whose 
waters were the fishing ground, or Navesink, of the 

212 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

Indians, where shad were caught in profusion until the 
canal was built. Most of the creeks rise within the bor- 
ders of the moimtain-walled county; some that rise 
w^ithm the county flow to neighbormg counties, but the 
fruitful valleys depend for irrigation almost entirely on 
native resources. 

And what cooling, appealing names some of these 
waterways bear!— Monocacy/Ontelaunee, Manatawny, 
Tulpehocken, Cacoosing, "Wyomissing. There is poetry 
in every one of them. Antietam is also here — to the 
gratification of Reading people. Here is the source of 
the city's water supply, two hundred acres having been 
set aside some years ago as a watershed. School chil- 
dren from the city have planted these acres with 
seedlings supplied by the State Department of Forestry, 
so that the day is coming when the cool forest will 
throw its protecting arms about the springs for their 
children's children. 

A number of these tributaries of the Schuylkill are 
crossed at their mouths by the road that leads north 
toward the Kittatinny or Blue Mountains, on the border 
between Berks and Schuylkill counties. This is the old 
Center Road, begun in 1808 and completed to the Sus- 
quehaima River at Sunbury in 1812. For the most part 
i t follows the east bank of the river, though it cuts across 
some of the bends of the stream. These bends are a 
notable feature of the landscape of northern Berks, 
though none of them is as remarkable as the double 
bend below Reading, which describes an "S," as the 
observer from Neversink's heights may note. 

The river and the highway have for companion the 
canal, begun in 181G, completed as far as Schuylkill 
Haven in 1817, opened to Port Carbon in 1823, and in 
operation to Philadelphia in 1824. Until the tow paths 

213 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

for mules were constructed the first primitive rafts and 
scows were drawn by men who, in single file, bent 
against the breast-sticks fastened at intervals in the 
tow line. These human horses shared public interest 
with the tunnel built for the canal at Auburn, over the 
line in Schuylkill County, the first tunnel on the conti- 
nent. Modern engineers smile at the idea of that 
tunnel, for it was built largely that it might be the first 
tunnel; a slight detour would have made it unnecessary. 
Not many years later it was changed to an open cut 
in the rock. 

As was the ease with some of the early railroads, any- 
one was permitted to use the canal facilities who could 
pay the tolls. These were low, considering the cost of 
the waterway (about three million dollars). In 1818 
$233 was collected. By 1824 this amount had increased 
to $635, and next year to $15,775, nearly two thirds of 
the payments being for coal. The rapid development 
of the coal industry made the canal a fair investment 
for a time; but the day of railroads soon arrived, and 
the canal gradually lost its usefulness. 

As the mountains are approached the rugged country 
becomes still more beautiful. Perhaps the best view 
awaits those who leave the highway at Hamburg, turn- 
ing to the right towards Lenhartsville and continuing a 
few miles up the road to Pine Creek. The drive along 
the Ontelaunee, the view of the Pinnacle, the highest 
peak of the Blue Ridge in the state, and the vision of the 
amphitheater, where the mountains form a circle, com- 
bme to make imperative this variation in the program. 
Back near the main road, in the vicinity of Hamburg, are 
the Blue Rocks, many acres of them, beneath which is a 
subterranean stream whose sound may be plainly heard. 
Point Lookout, above the rocks, is a convenient place 

2U 



3S 

5 X 








NEAK KKUNE. HF:KKS COrNTV 
Photo from Pliihulelphia & Hetxliiitr Hailroiid 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

for studying the countrj- before passing on, in the com- 
pany of river, canal, and highway, into the Schuylkill 
Gap at Port Clinton, the fourth in the remarkable 
series of gaps in the Kittatinny Range. In 104 miles 
there are five of these gaps, each of them used by a 
river (the Delaware, the Lehigh, the Schuylkill, the 
Swatara, and the Susquehanna), at almost equal inter- 
vals. Within the Schuylkill Gap the two branches of 
the Schuylkill unite to form the main stream. 

After keeping close to the river for many miles, it 
seems a pity to leave its banks for a time, beyond Port 
Clinton, but the quiet beauty of the valley road is so 
great that the river is not missed. Orwigsburg, once 
the county seat, is located in this stretch away from the 
river, yet its situation is delightful; the distant view of 
hillside and mountain is a variation in the landscape. 

The basin at Schuylkill Haven was one of the impor- 
tant parts of the canal slack-water navigation scheme. 
If this basin could only tell of the tremendous coal 
traffic that passed this way from Pottsville and the 
regions beyond, bound for the gap at Port Clinton and 
the Philadelphia markets! In the early mining days 
a larger amount of coal passed down the canal than 
was shipped from the Lehigh and Lackawanna fields 
combined. 

Four miles beyond Schuylkill Haven, above the gorge 
by which the river breaks through Sharp Mountain, is 
Pottsville, the metropolis of the south anthracite fields. 
Here, in 1812, coal was loaded into nine wagons by Col- 
onel Shoemaker, the discoverer, and taken to Philadel- 
phia. The effort to introduce it was vain ; the man who 
made the attempt was called an impostor, because he 
tried to sell stone for coal. Two loads were sold at a 
nominal price, and seven were given away. The pro- 

215 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

prietor of a Delaware County rolling mill promised 
Colonel Shoemaker to try it, but the foreman would 
have nothing to do with it. Early the morning after 
delivery the owner, assisted by the Colonel, started a 
fire, then went to breakfast. On their return the 
men found the coals in a glow. The skeptical foreman 
was converted when he saw Iron go through the rolls 
"like lead." He apologized, and began to talk coal. 

Yet not until 1824 did anthracite give Pottsville a 
name. Then a boom started that was responsible for 
great changes in the beautiful valley of the Schuylkill. 
Values increased rapidly. Land bought for $9000 in 
1824 sold in 1829 for $42,000. In 1823 four hundred 
and fifty acres were bought for $190, and in 1829 one- 
fourth of the tract was sold for $9000. Earlier in the 
same year a man who bought a bit of land for $1000 
sold it, after nine months, for $16,000. 

The story of the influx of fortune-seekers from Phila- 
delphia and Reading by the Ridge Road and the Center 
Road sounds like a bit of California description in the 
days of the gold excitement: 

"Fortune kept her court in the mountains of Schuyl- 
kill County, and all who paid their respects to her in 
person found her as kind as their wildest hopes could 
imagine. The Ridge Road was well traveled. Reading 
stared to see the lengthened colunm of emigrants, and 
her astounded inhabitants looked with wonder upon 
the groaning stage-coaches, the hundreds of horsemen, 
and the thousands of footmen, who streamed through 
that ancient and respectable borough, and on for 
Ultima Thule, Orwigsburg . . . Eight miles further 
brought the army to the land of milk and honey, and 
then the sport began — the town was far from large 
enough to accommodate the new accessions. New 
towns were laid out in the pathless forests, many of 
which never went beyond the paper stage." 

216 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

Stephen Girard was among the investors who turned 
to lands in Schuylkill and adjacent counties at this 
period. For $30,100 he bought seventy-three tracts of 
coal lands, sixty-eight of these having been at one time 
in possession of Robert Morris and his partner John 
Nicholson. A corps of surveyors was sent out from 
Philadelphia to run lines on the property; but they 
found the work most difficult, not only because much of 
the ground was covered "to the height of above eigh- 
teen feet, on an average, with dense undergrowth," but 
because supplies for the surveyors were not at hand. A 
representative of the Philadelphia financier wrote that 
"the number of persons engaged in surveying is so con- 
siderable, and their appetite from labor and keen air so 
good, that the provisions furnished vanish very fast; 
in my opinion if you could send from your farm two or 
three barrels of potatoes, a barrel or two of beets and 
turnips, radishes, a keg of white beans, great good 
would be done." 

A letter from one of the surveyors told more particu- 
larly of the work : 

"I have run lines where no human being ever trod, 
over mountains as steep — nay, steeper in many in- 
stances than the roof of any house, and from 60 to 150 
perches ascent or descent, embodied in which must be 
immense quantities of coal. At one place in the vicinity 
of our first encampment, Mr. Allen had a vein opened 
to ascertain the quality as well as its extent. The coal 
turned out to be of an excellent quality, the vein uncom- 
monly extensive, running directly into a high mountain 
apparently inexhaustible." 

For the immediate improvement of the property 
Girard planned sawmills, to be operated by some of 
the splendid water power of Schuylkill County; log 
houses for workmen; landing piers on the Schuylkill, 

217 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

and three boats to run from these to Pottsville. That 
there might be a still more satisfactory outlet for the 
coal, he decided to have also a railroad from Danville 
to Pottsville. He himself subscribed for $100,000 of the 
capital stock, while others quickly made up the balance. 
As a director of the road he took steps to secure from 
English manufacturers the iron for the rails. The 
specifications for these are of interest, as indicating the 
manner of construction in that day, when parallel 
wooden stringers were bolted on a double row of spaced 
stone sills, these stringers being protected from the wear 
of the flanged wheels by "straps of iron two inches 
wide and one half an inch thick, cut at the ends at an 
angle of 45, and 18 feet long from heel to point, or 18 
feet and 2 inches long from point to point." 

The railroad was to run through some of the Girard 
coal lands, and a town was to be laid out on his property. 
On December 20, 1831, instructions went from Phila- 
delphia to the agent at Orwigsburg, which was a 
central point for dealing with claimants who had been 
occupying the Catawissa Valley lands. This was one of 
Girard's last letters; next day he was taken ill, and in 
five days he was dead. The will directed that none of 
his lands should be sold. 

Those were perhaps Schuylkill County's most excit- 
ing days, until the conflict with the Molly Maguires 
more than forty years later — a conflict incident to the 
development of the coal lands of which the Girard 
estate owned a rich section. This excitement was due 
this time primarily to the emigration of Irishmen. Most 
of the Irish were good citizens, but some of them banded 
together and terrorized the county. In the entire county 
there were less than six hundred members of the order, 
but these controlled the schools and the township 

218 




SL_. 




A HICXI) IX TIIK SCnr-i LKii.l, KI\KR 
Ph.-tn fi,>in IMiiUnl.hilna iV' l{.:uiiii^' li:.ilr.,a( 




NEAR POTTSVII.LK 

Photo from J'hila(l<'lphiu A Heading Kuilroad 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

government in many sections of a county which then 
had 116,000 population. After ten years the Maguires 
were compelled to disband, and in bringing about this 
result others of the Irish residents were prominent. 
Pottsville was one of the four or five leading centers of 
the order's activities. 

Tamaqua, too, was a stronghold of the terrorists who 
made residence unpleasant in the midst of its notable 
surroundings. The town is in a deep valley, limited by 
the Sharp and Locust mountains. From the top of 
Sharp Mountain, in the rear of the town, there is a 
splendid view of the whole interior coal basin. The 
Little Schuylkill here flows through a characteristic 
mountain gorge. 

From Tamaqua north into Luzerne County and on 
to Hazelton and Wllkes-Barre the w^ay is through val- 
leys, among the Nescopeck Mountains, through the 
Nescopeck Pass, and along ridges that parallel in a 
general way the Lehigh River in Carbon County, to 
the east. Wilkes-Barre, the town of Wilkes and Barre, 
where stone coal was burned first in 1808, is the eastern 
gateway to W^yoming Valley — that favored spot before 
which description falters and adjectives are impotent. 
Waugh-wau-wame, " broad valley," the Indians called 
this basin surrounded by mountains, twenty-seven 
miles long, and averaging three miles m breadth. "Few 
landscapes that I have seen can compare with it," was 
the verdict of a traveler of 1829. "It was the great 
natural wonder, the Yosemite of that day," Sydney 
George Fisher has said. "It aroused the interest and 
became the talk of everyone in England. It was de- 
scribed as one of the happiest spots of human existence." 

Fitz-Greene Halleck, after speaking of his anticipa- 
tions of the valley, wrote: 

219 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

"I then but dreamed: thou art before me now. 
In life, a vision of the brain no more. 
I've stood upon the wooded mountain's brow 
That beetles high thy lovely valley o'er; 
And now, where winds thy river's greenest shore. 
Within a bower of sycamores am laid, 
And winds, as soft and sweet as ever bore 
The fragrance of wild-flowers through sun and shade. 
Are singing in the trees, whose low boughs press my 
head." 

Lydia Huntley Sigourney is another of the poets who 
have sung the glories of the valley. Her theme is the 
meeting of the Susquehanna and the Lackawanna, in 
the Lackawannock Gap in the Blue Ridge: 

"Rush on, glad stream, in thy power and pride. 
To claim the hand of thy promised bride; 
She doth haste from the realm of the darkened mine. 
To mingle her murmured vows with thine; 
Ye have met — ye have met, and the shores prolong 
The liquid notes of your nuptial song. 

*'On, on, through the vale where the brave ones sleej), 
Where the waving foliage is rich and deep, 
I have stood on the mountam and roamed through 

the glen. 
To the beautiful home of the western men; 
Yet naught in that region of glory could see 
So fair as the vale of Wyoming to me." 

The best point from which to look out on the meeting 
of the waters is from a rocky peak near Pittston, known 
as Campbell's Ledge, because of a bare rock jutting out 
from the cliff not far from the summit of the six-hun- 
dred-foot eminence. This ledge was once called Dial 
Rock. It faces south, and the Indians learned that 
when the sun touched the rock it was noon. The set- 
tlers in the vicinity soon learned to use the Indian's 

220 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

timepiece. Even if there is doubt as to the story of the 
poet Campbell's fabled residence in the valley, it is of 
interest to note that his name has been given to such a 
notable landmark. 

The valley is rich in other eminences, from which it is 
possible to feast upon the wonders of the region. One 
of these is Lookout Mountain, back of the village of 
Wyoming, near West Pittston. This is the highest 
point in the range on the west of the valley. The road 
through Schooley's Gap that leads up the mountainside 
to the spot affords views that should prepare the traveler 
for what he will see from above; nevertheless, the final 
outlook that bursts upon him is startling. Far to the 
north is the Lackawanna Valley, " the sister of Wyo- 
ming." Just below are the lower hills, the river banks, 
the green fields, and the slopes that look as if laid out 
by a landscape gardener. To the south the valley 
extends toward the Nanticoke Gap near Shickshmny 
where the Susquehanna seeks the low lands that open 
the way to its sister stream at Northumberland. 

Prospect Rock is another point of vantage to be 
sought to-day as it was sought in the early days of the 
valley. At that time a visitor spoke of the panorama 
spread out as magnificent : 

"The valley, with the beautiful Susquehanna dotted 
with many a verdant island winding through it; the 
pleasant old villages that lovingly cling to the banks of 
the river, and, beyond all these, the three-fold tier of 
mountain ridges that rise one above the other, along 
the western sky, one of them near at hand, with its well- 
defined form, while the other two peer from above with 
their blue tops, as from some other world." 

But the best of all views is obtained from the summit 
of Wilkes-Barre Mountam. The airline distance to 

221 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Wilkes-Barre is but five miles, but the railroad requires 
sixteen miles to make Fairview Summit, first going 
down into the valley, then circling about the mountain 
in search of the best grade. Here and there a break in 
the foliage or a depression in the mountain enables the 
eye to look into the valley, and to secure fleeting vistas. 
The traveler soon decides that the train moves too fast 
for his purpose; he is apt to wish that he might walk or 
drive up the grade, and so be free to stop and gaze at 
will, instead of looking for a moment and then straining 
his eyes for the next gap that will afford a glimpse of 
distant glory. "Such dissolving views are altogether 
unsatisfactory,'* someone has said. "They leave but a 
wilderness of things, rather than a series of distinct 
negatives." 

The first settlers came to the Wyoming Valley from 
Connecticut. They thought the lands belonged to that 
colony, by charter right; the Connecticut claim was 
that all the territory above a line drawn from Strouds- 
burg was theirs. From the Indians a company of Con- 
necticut adventurers secured the right to settle in the 
valley about the Indians' own town Waughwauwame, 
near the present site of Wilkes-Barre. 

In 1762 the Connecticut pioneers arrived. Six years 
later the proprietors of Pennsylvania, who claimed that 
the valley was within the borders of that colony, bought 
from the Six Nations title to much territory, including 
Wyoming, although chiefs of the same nation had pre- 
viously disposed of the valley to the Connecticut Sus- 
quehannah Company. 

Soon a colony from Pennsylvania was on the ground, 
and took possession of improvements made by Connec- 
ticut claimants, who, at the time, were absent, having 
been driven away by the Indians. Of course there was 
222 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

trouble. Fortifications were built by both parties, and 
there were repeated conflicts. Then began the unhappy 
Pennamite war, which was not ended until a commit- 
tee of Congress awarded the territory to Pennsylvania 
in 1782. During the interval the Wyoming Valley 
was annexed to the county of Litchfield, Connecti- 
cut, with the name Westmoreland. But, while the 
settlers from the two colonies were bitter enemies in 
local affairs, they joined forces against the British. 

The valley's time of sorrow came in June, 1778, when 
four hundred Tories and seven hundred Indians ad- 
vanced against Forty Fort, where some four hundred 
men and boys gathered to resist them. The fort was held 
until July 3, by what has been called one of the most 
gallant defenses in American history. But that day it 
became necessary to meet the enemy in the open. The 
settlers were defeated. The fort surrendered. Good 
treatment was promised. But the British were not 
able to restrain the Indians, who began a massacre 
from which few but women and children escaped. These 
fled in terror, with scant provision, over the Pocono 
Mountains, to Stroudsburg. Of the awful journey an 
early historian has written: 

"WTiat a picture for the pencil! Every pathway 
through the wilderness thronged with women and chil- 
dren, old men and boys. The able men of middle life and 
activity were either away in the general service or had 
fallen . There were few who were not in the engagement ; 
so that in one drove of fugitives consisting of one hun- 
dred persons there was only one man with them. Let 
the painter stand on some eminence commanding a 
view at once of the valley and the mountain. Let him 
paint the throng climbing the heights; hurrying on, filled 
with terror, despair, and sorrow. Take a single group : 
the affrighted mother, whose husband has fallen; an 

223 



SEEING TENNSYLVANIA 

infant on her bosom ; a child by the hand; an aged parent 
slowly climbing the rugged way, behind her; hunger 
presses them sorely; in the rustling of every leaf they 
hear the approaching savage; the Shades of Death 
before them; the valley all in flames, behind them; the 
cottages, the barns, the harvests, all swept in the flood 
of ruin; the star of hope quenched in the blood shower 
of savage vengeance." 

There is a monument at Wyoming to commemorate 
the battle, in which, as the inscription says, "a small 
band of patriot Americans, chiefly the undisciplined, 
the youthful, and the aged, spared by inefficiency from 
distant ranks c ' the Ilepublic, led by Colonel Zebulon 
Butler and Colonel Nathan Denison, with a courage 
that deserved success, boldly met and bravely fought a 
combined British and Indian force." 

Under the monument lie the bones of many of the 
brave defenders. Let them speak to us who glory in 
their bravery: 

"To God the glory! We, who lie 
Humbly beneath the quiet sky. 
Have drawn the water, hewn the wood, 
And made the best of life we could, 
Winning the sweetness born of strength 
And, through much striving, peace at length. 

Great were the perils in our way. 
And hard the labors of that day; 
But over all the blue sky bent, 
And winding through the meadows went 
The wide ' Greate River ' to the sea, 
Catching the sunlight gloriously. 

"Still on the blue horizon sleep 
The curving hill lines; and there sweep 
Cloud shadows over vale and hill, 
Now chased by sunlight, and now still; 
The locusts chant amid the trees; 

224 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

Above the clover hum the bees; 
And crickets chirping in the grass 
Make sweet the long days as they pass. 

"To God the glory! We, who dwelt 
Long in these quiet vales, have felt 
All that there is in life to feel- 
Its depths of woe, its heights of weal; 
And to our children's children leave 
Inheritance to joy and grieve. 
And fight triumphantly as we! 
To God the glory still shall be." ^ 

The massacre at Wyoming led, in 1779, to the expe- 
dition of General Sullivan, through the trackless wilder- 
ness, from Easton, through Nazareth and the Wind 
Gap, and thence to Wilkes-Barre and beyond, across 
the Pocono Plateau — a comprehensive name for the 
highlands of Monroe, Pike, Wayne, and a part of Car- 
bon counties. Near Stroudsburg it took the Wyoming 
Path from Pechoquealin (Shawnee-on-Delaware) to 
Wyoming. Much of the route is to-day included in the 
forty-mile road from Wilkes-Barre to Stroudsburg, and 
is one of the best of the state highways for which Penn- 
sylvania is famous. 

The first section of this marvelous drive leads to 
Bear Creek and Bear Lake on the Albert Lewis private 
forest reserve. Bear Creek is a tributary of the Lehigh, 
and its course from source to mouth is wildly beautiful. 

Stoddartsville, on the picturesque Lehigh, is the last 

town in Luzerne County. Then comes the strange 

region that caused such travail to the refugees from 

the Wyoming massacre — the Great Swamp, or the 

Shades of Death. It is difficult to think of a swamp 

on an elevated tableland, but the situation is made clear 

by a modern description: 

iM. E. Buhler. 

15 225 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

"This was, and is yet to-day, a marsh upon a moun- 
tain top, the vast, wet, marshy plateau of the Pocono 
and Broad mountains — an area still unreclaimed, in- 
cluded now in three counties and surrounding the head- 
waters of the romantic Lehigh. Over the greater part of 
this singular, saturated table-land there was a dense 
growth of pines and a tangled, almost impenetrable 
undergrowth, the whole interspersed here and there 
with expanses of dark, murky water, often concealed 
by a lush growth of mosses and aquatic plants, and 
swarming with creeping things, even as the forests 
abounded with wild beasts." 

So much for the Shades of Death to-day. A de- 
scription, written but ten years after the tragedy at 
Wyoming, is supplied by Johan David Schoepf . Read 
his racy description of a trip through these mountains 
in 1788: 

"The Great Swamp extends only fifteen miles across, 
but no one knows how far it lies to the north and south. 
Really, the whole of the region is not what is commonly 
called swamp, several mountains and valleys being 
included under the name. I do not trust myself to give 
a picture of the region. The road cut through is nowhere 
more than six foot wide, and full of everything which 
can make trouble for the passengers. On both sides the 
forest is so thick that the trees almost touch by their 
height and their matted branches, making a dimness 
cold and fearful even at noon of the clearest day. 
All beneath is grown up in green and impenetrable 
bush. Everywhere lie fallen trees, or those half-fallen, 
despite of their weight not reaching the ground. Thou- 
sands of rotten and rotting trunks cover the ground, 
and make every step uncertain; and between lies a fat 
bed of the richest mold that sucks up like a sponge all 
the moisture and so becomes swampy almost every- 
where. One can with difficulty penetrate the growth 
even a little way, and not without danger of coming too 
near this or that sort of snake lying hidden from the 
226 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

sharpest eye in the waste of stones, leaves, and roots. 
Nature shows itself here quite in the original wildness 
... A particularly deep valley in the great swamp is 
the Shades of Death; its steep mountain sides are dis- 
tinguished by a great number of the tallest and slim- 
mest pines, with white and hemlock spruce, and these 
are mixed below with a profuse and beautiful growth 
of rhododendrons and calamus, the roots waxing lustily 
in deep beds of mold." 

That the Shades of Death have disappeared is due 
to the tanneries and the lumber mills which drew upon 
these plateaus for their supplies. Perhaps the most 
famous of the tanneries was at Gouldsboro, north of 
Pocono Summit. This was Jay Gould's first business 
venture. 

To-day summer hotels are thick where Schoepf and 
his predecessors found danger and threat of death. 
For some miles resorts are thickly dotted here and there. 
The chain of lakes along the course of the Tobyhanna 
helps to provide vacation joys for the dwellers in the 
lowlands; these invite to swimming and boating, and 
the mountain streams are famous as fishing grounds. 
Henry van Dyke, who has joyfully ranged over these 
mountains many times, has sung of the sport he found 
here: 

"Do you remember, father, — 
It seems so long ago, — 

The day we fished together 
Along the Pocono? 

At dusk I waited for you, 
Beside the timber-mill, 

And then I heard a hidden bird 
That chanted, 'Whip-poor-will, 
'Whippoorwill ! Whippoorwill !' 
Sad and shrill, — 'whippoorwill!'" 

227 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

This poet's favorite stream is the Swiftwater, to the 
south of Mt. Pocono; of this he has written much in 
his dehghtful essays. 

The Swiftwater is one of the features in the glorious 
panorama spread out from the summit of Mount Pocono, 
two thousand feet high. Down into the valley, between 
the Pocono and the Kittatinny, and on to the stately 
slopes of Delaware Water Gap, is a view that makes the 
fortunate beholder glad to be alive and eager to inspect 
more closely the slopes and valleys of the landscape so 
viewed. 

But before following in person where the eye has 
pointed the way it would be well to tm-n northeast to 
Cresco, where Buck Hill Falls in Buck Hill Creek are 
hidden in the mountain forest. There are three of these 
falls, and the total descent of the water is nearly one 
hundred feet. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Forestry has con- 
trol of the tree-clad slopes near Cresco and beyond. 
One of the provisions made for the protection of the 
forest from fires will prove, Incidentally, a help to the 
sightseer. This is the observation tower about three- 
quarters of a mile west of Cresco. From this can be 
seen large portions of Pike and Monroe counties, includ- 
ing the Pocono Plateau and the Delaware Water Gap. 

The road through the state forest extends along the 
ridge to La Anna and South Sterling. At every turn 
the one who is traveling alone sighs for company in his 
enjoyment. Yet if two nature-lovers of kindred s])irits 
are together on this route they are more apt to be silent 
than to exclaim; speech will seem unnecessary, words a 
profanation. 

The journey may be continued along the Wallen- 
paupack, tiirough Pike County, and on into the wilds of 

228 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

Wayne. But why go that way now when the route 
laid out approaches the Wallenpaupack from another 
direction? 

So back through the forest to Cresco, and down to 
Stroudsburg either by the SulHvan Trail from Mount 
Pocono or by the highway that follows the route of the 
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railway. It is 
not easy to choose; Sullivan Trail may be better sur- 
faced, but the road farther to the east passes through 
such wonderful country that little account is taken of a 
few additional bumps. 

Knowledge of the story of the building of the railroad 
adds to the pleasure taken in the ride to Stroudsburg. 
This story goes back to the closing years of the eigh- 
teenth century, when Henry Drinker, the Philadelphia 
Quaker, bought from the state some tw^enty-five thou- 
said acres of forest land in what are now Lackawanna, 
Wayne, Pike, and Susquehanna counties. There was 
no good outlet for this tract until. In 1819, he built what 
is still known as "Drinker's Road," from New Jersey 
into the Lackawanna Valley. But the day came when 
the wagon road did not satisfy the financier. He won- 
dered if a railroad could not be constructed for the 
marketing of the anthracite coal which was already 
attracting attention. 

His first step was to take an ax and cut a route through 
the forest from what is now^ Pittston, across the Pocono 
Plateau, sixty miles to Delaware Water Gap. Then he 
planned a road v/itli a series of inclined planes, for wliich 
the power was to be supplied by water on the levels, 
and by horses on the planes. 

A road was actually constructed from Scranton to 
the Erie Railroad. This gave access to New York, but 
by such a roundabout route that a railroad over the 

229 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Pocono Mountains was decided on. Mr. Drinker was 
no longer connected with the project, but his ideas were 
carried out by the engineers who surveyed a route from 
below Stroudsburg to Scranton. The present Pocono 
division, originally called the Delaware and Cobb's Gap 
Railroad, extended to the Delaware River, where con- 
nection was made for New York. The result was a line 
to that city at a saving of one hundred miles. 

Another result of Henry Drinker's land and railway 
interests in the Pocono is that ever since the Quakers 
of Philadelphia have been specially drawn to these spa- 
cious mountain regions. 

Not far from the Delaware the road passes through 
Stroudsburg, one of the historic points of eastern Penn- 
sylvania. Stroudsburg was of interest to the lumbermen 
in the days when the Analomink — whose leafy waters 
have been followed from near Cresco — carried down 
logs from the mountains. The place was of interest to 
the pioneers because of the location here of Fort Hamil- 
ton, during the French and Indian War, and of Fort 
Penn, during the Revolution. The commander of 
Fort Penn was Colonel Jacob Stroud, later the founder 
of the town. 

In the winter of 1771 Stroudsburg was of interest to 
the settlers in the Wyoming Valley because they turned 
in this direction when they were out of provisions. 
Once nine men were sent to Stroudsburg for flour, and 
the Lehigh was crossed by wading after a way had been 
cut through the ice that lined either shore; and a road 
was cut through the wilderness. WTien they reached 
Stroudsburg they were liable to arrest since they 
belonged to Connecticut. Their danger was great 
because, on the night of their coming, there was a wed- 
ding party at the home of the man whose help they 

230 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

sought. He hid them, however, so saving them from a 
probable trip to Easton in the custody of the sheriff. 
Next day they were sent back over the rough mountains, 
each carrying seventy-five pounds of flour. 

There is a tradition that when Teedyuscung, chief of 
the Leni Lenapes, was hving in Stroudsburg, a black- 
smith who was not of much account said to him : 

"Well, cousin, how do you do?" 

"Cousin? How do you make that out?" was the 
puzzled reply. 

"Oh, we all come from Adam!" 

"I am glad it is no nearer!" was the Indian's crushing 
retort. 

The scenic features of the country a few miles below 
Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg are so commanding 
that visitors sometimes pass by the beauties of the 
neighborhood of these twin towns. The time required 
for a ramble on the heights above or in the valley below 
will be amply repaid. 

Several miles east of Stroudsburg flows the Delaware, 
the river of which "William Moraly, Gent" wrote so 
learnedly in 1743, in his "Voyages and Adventures." 
His physical and natural history were fearfully and 
wonderfully made: 

"The river is supposed to have its rise from a Lake, 
in the Mountains of Canada, and is believed from its 
forest Springs to the Cape, in its Windings, to be above 
2000 Miles in length. In the Heat of Summer, nothing 
affords a more pleasant and delightful Prospect than it 
does ... In the midst of the river are many sm.all 
islands, some of them two Miles in length ... In the 
Summer the Cows will Swim to them, and graze till the 
Evening, when they will return, but sometimes with the 
loss of a Leg, by the Shirks . . . Great numbers of large 
Sturgeon gamble on the Water." 

231 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

But the Delaware has greater wonders to offer than 
cow-destroying Shirks or gambhng Sturgeon — the 
Delaware Water Gap, grand when seen at a distance 
from the summit of Mount Pocono, sublime when seen 
from the heights above the double bend in the river, 
between beetling cliffs, or from the channel within the 
gap, or from below, first near at hand, then miles down 
the winding river. A traveler in stagecoach days said 
that it was worth a journey of five hundred miles to gaze 
on the precipitous hills that rise on either side of the 
river to a height of 1500 or 1600 feet. 

One geologist calls this great cleft, which divides the 
Kittatinny to its very base, a "transverse dislocation," 
and calls attention to the projection of the eastward sec- 
tion to the northward, a characteristic of all such clefts. 
There are geologists who declare that the Kittatinny 
Ridge, in which the gap appears, was once the margin 
of a vast lake, into which the Chemung, the Chenango, 
the Delaware, and the Susquehanna rivers flowed. By 
the action of the water breaks or transverse dislocations 
were made in the ridge, which to-day are called gaps; 
and the rivers foimd an outlet through these. The 
Indians must have had some such theory, for their name 
for the gap was Minisink, meaning "the water is gone." 
Other geologists have an entirely different theory. 
Silliman, for instance, says that there is "no reason 
whatever to believe that the waters have torn asunder 
the solid strata"; they have simply flowed through the 
lowest or least obstructed strata. 

But however geologists may differ as to the formation 
of the Delaware Water Gap, there can be no difference 
of opinion as to the majesty of the spectacle presented 
by the passage of the river through the vast opening. 
Like Niagara, this wonder must be observed from many 
232 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

points, and year after year. It never palls and it is 
always friendly. On the railroad the entire gap can be 
seen well only from a distance; within the gap itself the 
view from the car window is confined to a single cliff. 
Even this half view has its compensations — for instance, 
the study of the shadow of the green-clad mountain in 
the clear water beneath or the great double arrowhead, 
half of it formed by a bare place on the shore of the 
river, half by its reflection in the water. 

From the river itself the marvel should be seen, with 
open sky above, and a view first of one side, then of the 
other, then of both together. This was the view gained 
by a raftsman who first passed within the portals of the 
gap in 1862, The sharp bends in the stream and the 
rapid current made inattention to navigation danger- 
ous, but he found it difficult to keep his eyes on his 
work. He has since made scores of visits to the spot, and 
the joy of that first experience increases with each visit. 

Then from the height above, on the Pennsylvania 
side, where the hotel proprietors have taken possession, 
there is a prospect that differs from all the others. 
Fortunately a part of the height has been made into 
Kittatinny Park, which offers attractions of its own. 
Thus there has been fulfilled the vision of Anthony 
Dutoit, the French refugee who sought these heights 
about 1703, bought land where hotels now stand, and 
laid out the city of Dutoit. He was ahead of the age, 
and his project failed. 

Wonder is increased by a view of the river above the 
gap; the aspect of everything is so different from that 
presented below. Angelo Heilprin, in "The Earth and 
the Sky," speaks of this : 

" I wondered why the Delaware, which flows so peace- 
fully down the valley on the opposite side of the gap, 

233 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

should have so suddenly turned and cut a channel 
through the mountains instead of following their trail. 
This is a puzzle." 

But this is geology once more. More romantic is the 
poem on the gap by Elizabeth F. Ellett: 

"Our western land can boast no lovelier spot. 
The hills which in their ancient grandeur stand 
Piled to the frowning clouds, the bulwarks seem 
Of this wild scene, resolved that none but Heaven 
Shall look upon its beauty. Round their breast 
A curtained frieze depends, of golden mist, 
Touched by the slanting sunbeams; while below 
The silent river, with majestic sweep. 
Pursues her shadowed way, — her glassy face 
Unbroken, save where stoops the lone wild swan 
To float in pride, or dip her ruffled wing. 
I Talk ye of solitude? It is not here, 
Nor silence. Low, deep murmurs are abroad. 
Those towering hills hold converse with the sky 
That smiles upon the summits; and the wind, 
Which stirs their wooded sides, whispers of life 
And bears the burden sweet from leaf to leaf. 
Bidding the stately forest-boughs look bright 
And nod to greet his coming ! And the brook. 
That with its silvery gleam comes leaping down 
From the hillside, has, too, a tale to tell; 
The wild bird's music mingles with its chime 
And gay young flowers, that blossom in its path, 
Send forth their perfume as an added gift." 

If possible, that curious half break in the mountain 
range about twelve miles to the southeast should be 
seen in connection with the Delaware Water Gap. This 
is called the Wind Gap. No water flows through it, but 
from time immemorial it has been a helpful passage for 
travelers. The Indians came this way; it was on the 
route of the rascals who outwitted the trusting savages 
by the Walking Purchase, described later in this chapter; 

234 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

as has been said, it was the passageway for General 
Sullivan; and to-day there leads through it a road 
whose beauty defies description. 

Of course there are all sorts of theories about the 
Wind Gap also. Once upon a time, some say, the Water 
Gap outlet from the lake beyond the Kittatinny rim 
was stopped up by ice. The lake formed once more, 
and a secondary outlet was cut through at the Wind 
Gap. The day came when the ice in the Water Gap 
broke away, and the river resumed its wonted course. 

Charles Thomson, Secretary of Congress during the 
Revolution, had an idea slightly different. It was his 
notion that the Wind Gap, about one hundred feet 
higher than the Water Gap, was the original outlet 
for the river. He called attention to the fact that the 
stones in the Wind Gap seem to have been washed for 
ages by water running over them. 

Once more let the poet have the final word. In 1804 
Alexander Wilson passed through the Wind Gap, on his 
way from Easton toward Niagara. The account of the 
journey was written in verse. Of the gap he said: 

*'Lo! the Blue Mountain now in front appears, 
And high o'er all its lengthened ridge uprears; 
Th' inspiring sight redoubled vigor lends. 
And soon its steeps each traveler ascends. 
Panting we wind aloft, begloomed in shade. 
Mid rocks and moldering logs tumultuous laid 
In wild confusion ; till the startled eye 
Through the cleft mountain meets the pale blue sky 
And distant forests; while sublimely wild, 
Tow'rs each tall cliff to heaven's own portals piled. 
Enormous gap ! if Indian tale be true, 
Here ancient Delaware once thunder'd through, 
And rolled for ages; till some earthquake dread. 
In high convulsion, shook him from his bed." 

235 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

In this region so rich in Indian legend there is a third 
notable spot, several miles up the Delaware from the 
Water Gap. This is Shawnee, the site of the Shawnee 
village Pechoquealin, to which was given the name 
applied by the Leni Lenapes to the Delaware Water 
Gap, "a mountain with holes in it." On the site of the 
village there is now a summer resort, while golf links 
occupy the ground where once the Shawnees hunted. 
The river at this point widens to make room for a long, 
low-lying island. The quiet beauty of island, river, 
valley, and mountain beyond can be seen best from 
the New Jersey side. 

One of the favorite resorts of the Indians who lived at 
Shawnee was Marshall's Falls, several miles from the 
river, on the state highway from Stroudsburg to Port 
Jervis. This stretch of road, said to be one of the finest 
highways in the state, both from the physical and the 
scenic points of view, keeps at a little distance from the 
river until Bushkill is reached. From there to Port 
Jervis it skirts the river, crossing creeks, picking a track 
among the hills that often seem as if they propose to 
close its passage, and passing within sight of gorges and 
cascades of wondrous beauty. 

This was the road traveled for many years by Judge 
John Coolbaugh, Revolutionary soldier, pioneer of the 
valley, whose house was built on the road where the 
owner could see the passing stagecoach. For this old 
settler a township, a lake, a railroad station, a post 
office, and a church have been named. 

Just beyond Coolbaugh post office the road passes 
for half a mile between rows of graceful sugar-maple 
trees, which give grateful shade as well as abounding 
beauty. The avenue is an object lesson in the possibil- 
ities of tree culture. In the fall of 187G seedlings twelve 

230 




iKIM, I !• yWK HWKH. I >!-: 1 ;AW ARK WATKR (iAP 




MAI'Ll': A\ |;M i: 
I'll.. to \,y St 



s S'lATK 
Dcpartii 



i{<)Ar), ,\i:ak k<'Ho lake 

■lit of iMirrsfrv 




I'KCK ^ DAM, I'lKlO COrNTV 
IMioti) l)y St:itf n.-ivnfincnt of F()rfstr> 




FALl \ >. I KKKK 1 .\ CHII.DS 1>.\KK 

Pilot.. I.y State Highway Dci)artiiifiit 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

feet high and two inches in diameter were planted by 
the roadside, and after more than a generation the trees 
in double row stand forth in all their dignity. 

Within a mile of the maple avenue, on an upland 
ridge, lies Echo Lake, embowered in trees. This is one 
of the series of the Kettlehole lakelets of the Monroe 
Highlands, as the geologists name them. Echo Lake 
has no visible outlet, but there is a subterranean outlet 
to Coolbaugh Lake and from Coolbaugh to Marshall's 
Creek and the Delaware. 

At Bushkill the road along the Delaware enters Pike 
County, the most sparsely poi:>ulatcd county in Penn- 
sylvania, and one of the most notable for its great 
beauty. Pike and Wayne counties together have been 
called a natural park. Back from the river are broken 
spurs of the Poconos, where many streams have their 
source. These flow serenely along through the rather 
poor soil of the county until they approach the slate 
and shale formations near the Delaware. Then they 
leap over rocky ledges, making a series of waterfalls 
that are the admiration of beholders. 

Bushkill is at the junction of two tumbling streams, 
the Big and Little Bushkill. Of the several cascades in 
the neighborhood the falls of the Little Bushkill are 
the finest in the state. The Delaware at Bushkill is 
worthy of special note because of the famous Wallpack 
Bend, where the stream makes a well-defined "S." 

From Bushkill to Port Jervis the highway is at the 
base of a cliff, by the side of the river. Frequent gorges 
break the cliff, and variety is given to the road by 
glimpses of river, hill, and forest. 

Dingman's Ferry is distinguished by Dingman's 
Creek, whose seven-mile course has numerous gorges, 
cataracts, and ravines. At High Falls the water leaps 

237 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

130 feet. Liberty Falls, Charming Falls, Kelpy Falls, 
Deer Leap Falls, Fulmer Falls, and Factory Falls are 
also near by. The Silver Thread enters Dingman's 
Creek after passing through the Soap Trough, described 
as "an inclined plane descending one hundred feet, 
always filled with foam." 

Reynoldskill, one more of the tumultuous trout 
streams of the neighborhood, has the distinguishing 
"kill" in its name, evidence of the fact that the first 
settlers in this region along the Delaware were the 
Dutch, some of whom came from New York before 
William Penn came to Philadelphia. 

From the heights above Dingman's there is a remark- 
able view up and down the Delaware and back into the 
interior, where are many of the club houses of Philadel- 
phia sportsmen attracted there by the fishing for pick- 
erel, black bass, and trout. 

Milford, the county seat of Pike County, has a nota- 
ble site on a high bluff above the Delaware, from which 
there is an advantageous view of many mountains. N. 
P. Willis chose an unusual way to speak of the town's 
situation; he said that Milford looks "like a town that 
all the mountains around have dismissed and kicked 
into the middle." Picking its way among the moun- 
tains to a resting place in the Delaware is another of the 
Dutch kills — Sawkill, with its fine private collection of 
waterfalls and its rocky gorge below. 

Milford is the home of the Yale School of Forestry's 
experiment station, as well as of Gifford Pinchot, the 
famous friend of Theodore Roosevelt, and his partner 
in the fight for the conservation of natural resources, 
including forests. The experiment station is an evi- 
dence of this Pinchot interest in conservation, for its 
endowment came from the family. 

238 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

One of the interesting sights near Milford is the mon- 
ument to Thomas Quick, pioneer, whose son is said to 
have slain ninety -nine Indians because of their treach- 
erous murder of his father. One of the stories told of 
the Indian-killing son is that one day, while splitting a 
log in which his wedge was sunk, he was surprised by 
Indians. He agreed to go with them if they would 
first help him to split the log. Their part was to take 
hold of the halves of the log and pull it apart while 
he drove the wedge farther in. Of course, when their 
fingers were well in, he knocked the wedge out, and 
caught them all ! 

The traveler who has taken the ride from Milford 
to Port Jervis along the Delaware is not apt to forget 
the experience. Fortunately the trip must be made 
on the highway; no railroad breaks the quiet of the 
county, except as the little thirteen-mile-long Dela- 
ware Valley Ime from Stroudsburg steps over the bor- 
der at Bushkill. 

The right-angled bend in the Delaware at Tri-State 
Park, near Port Jervis, marks the dividing line between 
two sections of the stream, which are so different that it 
is not easy to think of them as parts of the same river. 
In the ninety miles above the bend it is a rapid, tum- 
bling stream; the water descends 570 feet, whereas in the 
forty-three miles to the Water Gap it is quiet and 
placid; the descent is but 127 feet. 

It is not enough to skirt the border of Pike along the 
Delaware; one should certainly cross the county, touch- 
mg the Wallenpaupack and the Lackawaxen, entering 
Wayne County, and thence going over the mountains 
to Scranton. The first section of the route follows an 
old Indian trail from the Delaware to the Susque- 
hanna, "and in many respects it still resembles an 

239 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Indian trail," says the Blue Book. The route is apt to 
prove lonely; once, for a space of ten niiles, no house is 
seen. This is where the road passes through Blooming 
Grove Park, a state reservation. 

Once more the streams are centers of attraction. 
Shohola Creek is reached about fifteen miles from 
Milford. If one has the opportunity, he would do well 
to follow this stream to the Delaware, perhaps fifteen 
miles above Port Jervis. At Shohola Falls there are four 
cascades. Then comes "the glen," a cleft in the rocks 
some two hundred feet deep where the creek is fifty 
feet wide. From the glen the course to the Delaware 
is rocky, tumultuous, and strangely beautiful. Some 
have said that the glen of the Shohola is second only to 
Watkins' Glen. 

Soon after crossing the Shohola the road turns north- 
ward toward Hawley and the Lackawaxen, whose en- 
trance to the Delaware is also marked by a wild gorge. 
At Hawley the Wallenpaupack seeks the Lackawaxen. 
In its eagerness to join the Wayne County creek it forms 
a series of cataracts and rapids, descending some two 
hundred and fifty feet in about two miles. The Paupack 
cataract descends sixty-one feet. Wallenpaupack means 
"dead water," and for the first twenty miles of its 
course the stream is true to its name. Not on the last 
miles of its course, however. 

Lackawaxen Creek has a place m history for at least 
two reasons. On July 22, 1779, the battle of Lacka- 
waxen, or the Minisink, was fought, though on the 
New York side of the Delaware, and in 1842, on its 
banks, not far from the mouth, Horace Greeley began 
his colonizing experiment. Desiring to have a commu- 
nity similar to Alcott's Brook Farm, he organized the 
Sylvania Society with a capital of $10,000. This colony 

240 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

was based on "the common ownership of property 
and the equal division of labor." The shares were sold 
for twenty -five dollars each. One share was a member- 
ship fee. Seven thousand acres of wild land were bought, 
watered by Shohola Creek and several small lakes. 

Greeley himself furnished most of the money required. 
The colonists sought their new home by way of Milford, 
to the number of three or four hundred. A large com- 
mon building was erected for their accommodation, 
and shops were provided for communal activities. The 
board of directors found difficulty as soon as they began 
to assign the colonists to their tasks. There were 
those who did not wish to do rough work; they did not 
see why they should not be employed in the shops. 

To add to the difficulties, the soil was poor and the 
crops failed. Finally, in 1844, there was frost on July 4. 
This was the final blow, and the experiment was aban- 
doned. Greeley was disgusted with a country that, as 
he said, could raise only snakes and stones. 

Later visitors, however, have been able to see many 
things more pleasing in Pike. There is the glorious 
Lacka waxen Creek, for instance, with its quiet stretches 
and its foaming, rocky reaches where the man with an 
artist soul delights to go. Zane Gray went there, and on 
his return home he wrote to Outing a message about the 
creek that served not only to tell his own keen pleasures, 
but has awakened curiosity in the minds of hundreds, 
many of whom have visited the waters for themselves, 
only to learn that much more might have been said : 

"It is a little river hidden away under gray cliffs and 
hills black with rugged pines. It is full of mossy stones 
and ragged riffles. All its tributaries, dashing white- 
sheeted over ferny cliffs, wine-brown where the whirling 
pools suck the stain from the hemlock roots, harbor the 

16 241 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

speckled trout. A mile or more from its mouth the 
Lacka waxen leaves the shelter of the hills and seeks the 
open sunlight and slows down to widen into long lanes 
that glide reluctantly over the few last restraining bar- 
riers to the Delaware." 

The Lackawaxen has had an important place in the 
transportation history of the northeastern country. In 
the early days coal was taken by sled from Carbondale, 
twenty miles through Rix's Gap, to the river at White 
Mills, in Wayne County, above Hawley, and was then 
loaded on rafts and sent by the Lackawaxen and the 
Delaware to Philadelphia. The trip was so dangerous 
and the desire to reach New York instead of Philadel- 
phia was so urgent that a canal from Honesdale to the 
Hudson River was begun in 1826. Connection was 
made with Carbondale by a railroad sixteen and a 
half miles long, which climbed about nine hundred feet 
to the summit of the Moosic range. On this route to 
the summit there were eight inclined planes, while the 
descent from Carbondale to Olyphant was made by 
two planes. Stationary steam engines furnished the 
power on the up grades, while gravity and horses were 
also employed. This, the second railroad in Pennsyl- 
vania, built in 1829, was at first intended for coal traffic 
only; passengers were a later consideration. 

The first locomotive in the United States was tested 
on this road by Horatio Allen, whom the Delaware and 
Hudson Canal Company, builders of the gravity line, 
sent to England to buy four locomotives. One of these, 
the Stourbridge Lion, was brought from New Y'ork to 
Honesdale by river and canal. The trial was made on 
August 8, 1829. Business was at a standstill; everybody 
took a holiday because of the great event. Years later 
Mr. Allen told the story of the day; 

242 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

"The road had been built in the summer; the struc- 
ture was of hemlock timber with rails of large dimen- 
sions notched on caps placed far apart. 

"After about three hundred feet of straight line the 
road crossed Lackawaxen Creek on trestlework about 
thirty feet high, and with a curve of about one hundred 
and fifty to four hundred feet radius. The impression 
was very general that the iron monster would break 
down the road, or that it would leave the track at the 
curve and plunge into the creek. My reply to such ap- 
prehension was that it was too late to consider tlie 
possibility of such occurrences; that there was no other 
course but to have a trial made of the strange animal 
which had been brought there at great expense, but that 
it was not necessary that more than one should be in- 
volved in its fate; that I would take the first ride alone, 
and the time would come when I should look back to 
the incident with great interest. 

"As I placed my hand on the handle I was undecided 
whether I should move slowly or with a fair degree of 
speed, but holding that the road would prove safe, and 
proposing, if we had to go down, to go handsomely, and 
without any evidence of timidity, I started with con- 
siderable velocity, passed the curve over the creek safely, 
and was soon out of hearing of the vast assemblage pres- 
ent. At the end of two or three miles I reversed the 
valve and returned without accident to the place of 
starting, having made the first locomotive trip on the 
western hemisphere." 

The engineer and directors were convinced that if the 
power for the cars was to be supplied by a locomotive, 
the wooden rails then in use would have to be replaced 
by iron rails. Since they could not afford to make the 
exchange, they turned again to mules and horses. The 
Stourbridge Lion was run off the rails near the canal 
lock, and there remained for fourteen years, an object 
of dread to the children of the neighborhood. Then the 
boiler was taken to the Carbondale shops, to supply 

243 



SEEING TENNSYLVANIA 

steam for a stationary engine. Finally the boiler went 
to the scrap heap, but was later rescued, and the restored 
engine may now be seen in the Smithsonian Institute 
at Washington. 

Later a gravity road was built from Scranton direct 
to Hawlcy, with twenty-two planes. "No two miles of 
the journey arc alike," an early passenger wrote: 

"Now a rush through a narrow cut in the solid rock, 
now a wide vision on either hand, a view across the 
valley, of stream and upland losing itself in the far 
distance in another range of hills, until the misty out- 
lines of others still beyond blend in with the faint blue 
of the sky; then a rushing waterfall or quiet stretch of 
the forest." 

This second route over the Moosic range is now a 
part of the Erie Railroad. A highway keeps fairly close 
to the road so vividly described. The upper road, from 
Honesdale to Carbondale, is also paralleled by a high- 
way which enables the traveler to study the panorama 
of hills, valleys, and rich farm lands, so different from 
the scene presented by the southern road. 

The pedestrian along such a road in Wayne County 
will experience the freedom of which Hamlin Garland 
writes: 

"What have I gained by the toil of the trail? 
I know and know well. 
I have found once again the lore I had lost 
In the loud city's hell. . . . 

"I have threaded the wild with the stealth of the deer. 
No eagle is freer than I ; 

No mountain can thwart me, no torrent appall, 
I defy the stern sky. 
So long as I live these joys will remain, 
I have touched the most primitive wildness again." 
214 







J ^ 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

But road-wandering in Wayne County should not be 
confined to the journey from Hawley to the Moosic 
Mountains. There should be also a tour of the four- 
score lakes that nestle in the highlands of the county 
that has more such bodies of water than any other 
county in Pennsylvania; there is at least one lake in 
every township but one. On the lower road Lake 
Ariel will have been seen already. But many other 
lakes are amid much rougher coimtry; many of them 
are kept as hunting and fishing preserves, for to these 
wilds of Wayne sportsmen resort for trout and pickerel 
and bass, as well as for deer and bear. 

Many of the lakes can be seen from High Knob, 
wliose elevation is 2010 feet, or from North Knob, which 
enables the visitor to look down on the surrounding 
country from a height of 1900 feet. Two of them are 
within reach from the road from Honesdale to Scranton. 
Beach Lake is northeast of Honesdale, while Lake 
Lodore is near the western boundary. WThile the area 
of tills lake is but three hundred acres, the shore line is 
more than five miles long. A part of the shore is a cliff 
whose summit affords a prospect twenty miles to the 
north and fifteen miles to the south. 

This county also has its tale of an early land experi- 
ment that failed. In 1792 there was formed in Phila- 
delphia by Henry Drinker a company whose title was 
so long that it is advisable to take a long breath before 
reading it: "The Union Society for Promoting the 
Manufacture of Sugar from the Maple Tree and Fur- 
thering the Interests of Agriculture in Pennsylvania, 
the Society's attention to be principally confined to 
that purpose and to the Manufacturing of Pot and 
Pearl Ashes." 

Three thousand acres were bought in W^ayne County, 

245 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

at ten shillings per acre. There were sixty shares, the 
par value being £5 per share. Dr. Benjamin Rush, 
William Sansom, Timothy Pickering, Elliston Perot, 
Richard Peters, and Robert Morris were associated with 
Mr. Drinker. 

One of the purposes of the company in preparing 
maple sugar for the market was to enter into compe- 
tition with the sugar of the South and the West Indies 
in the hope that the company might be able to supplant 
it, and so, perhaps, help in the solution of the vexed 
problem of slave labor. 

Some acres of land were cleared, a sawmill was built, 
as well as a house, a stable, and a blacksmith shop. 
Then there was made the disconcerting discovery that 
they could not count on more than three or four weeks 
in the year during which the sap would j3ow, so that 
sugar could be made from it. 

Not until November 9, 1795, was the announcement 
finally made to the stockliolders that it was no longer 
expedient to prosecute the work: £1400 more than 
the capital had been expended; the lands were later 
sold for $1125. 

Wayne County, with its lakes and legends, is left 
behind by the road that leads over the Moosic Moun- 
tains to Carl)ondale. From there a delightful tour can 
be ari'anged twice across Susquehanna County, distin- 
guished for lakes and mountains, as well as for railroads 
in whose construction there have been remarkable 
engineering feats. 

Northwest of Carbondale, and over the line in Sus- 
quehanna County, is Dundaff, a town mentioned in a 
pioneer's diary on January 1, 1824. A new line of tri- 
weekly stages had been put on the Owego and Milford 
turnpike, to run to New York. "Huzza! huzza! the 

246 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

new stage!" he wrote. "It waj forty-one hours coming 
from the city, but might have got in in less than forty 
hours, but stayed at Dmidaff unnecessarily." 

A roundabout road, not of the best as to surface, but 
wonderful as to scenery, leads east to a point close to 
the boundary of the county, then north along the line 
of the Erie Railroad to Ararat township, called "the 
observatory of Susquehanna County." The summit of 
the railroad is more than two thousand feet high, while 
Mount Ararat and Sugar Loaf are higher still. From 
the summit the eye sweeps the horizon from the hills 
beyond the first dip of the Susquehanna into Pennsyl- 
vania, to Bald Mountain at Pittston. To the west the 
hills of Bradford County are visible. 

The railroad points the way to Starucca, where, near 
the mouth of Starucca Creek, the great eighteen-arch 
bridge, 110 feet high, was built. The cost was $325,000, 
a sum that seems small in comparison with the cost of 
the Tunkhannock viaduct in Wyoming County; but it 
was a large sum for such work fifty years ago. 

Another advantage of the meandering course sug- 
gested here is the approach to Cascade Creek, a tribu- 
tary of the Susquehanna not far from the boundary line 
of the state, with its sixty-foot cascade half a mile from 
the mouth. At this point the Susquehanna is but ten 
miles from the Delaware. 

There is a fascinating road along the Great Bend, 
where the first settlement was made in 1787. W'ithin 
the Great Bend, Quaquaga, one of the two highest 
mountains in the county, lifts its head. 

Henry D'-inker, whose maple sugar speculation in 
W^ayne County failed so signally, owned, with others, 
500,000 acres in Susqueluuina Coimty. One day in 
1815, when Mr. and Mrs. Drinker were on their way 

247 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

to inspect these lands, h^^ had trouble on the road near 
Great Bend. At one point it became necessary to 
abandon the wagon, in which was the Drinker trunk, 
and to proceed with the hind wheels only. To these 
the trunk was fastened. "Then, jumping the horse 
over the logs plentifully scattered in the path, and 
lifting the wheels, the journey was continued." At a 
stream two canoes were put together and covered with 
planks. On these trunk, horse, and passengers passed 
safely over. 

The Drinkers, after reaching Great Bend, must have 
returned to the southern end of the county by the Snake 
Creek road, through Montrose, toward Meshoppen 
Creek. This was a wildly beautiful route then, and the 
scenery is marvelous to-day. Some miles to the west, 
soon after turning south, is Silver Lake, the home in 
early days of Dr. Robert H. Rose, owner of 100,000 
acres in the county and agent for the Pennsylvania 
claimants against the settlers from Connecticut. 

The name of Dr. Rose is perpetuated in the county 
seat, Montrose, the center of some of the finest scenery 
in the county. The town is about eighteen hundred 
feet high, and on all sides the country slopes rapidly 
to the valleys below. The view from some parts of 
the town is glorious, especially in the neighborhood of 
the Montrose Assembly grounds, with the attractive 
Lake Montrose. 

The approach to Montrose from the railroad is im- 
pressive. The Lackawanna climbs from Alford, and 
the Leliigh Valley makes the ascent from Tunkhannock. 
The latter road is but twenty-seven miles long, but it is 
1045 feet higher at Montrose than at Tunkhannock. 
On the way there are six distinct summits. The same 
general route is followed by the electric line to Lake 

248 




NE.VK M(JNTRO.SE 
Photo by HorKan 




Mt'HOLSUX VIADUCT, WYOMING COUXTV 

Flidtci by State H;<_'h\v:iy 1 )rp;irt inciit 







;A';r lick on whaktox ckkf>k, lackawanxa county 

I'linti. by State lli^'liway Dei.urtnient 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

Winola, where connection is made for Scranton. This 
will be found one of the finest trolley rides in the East. 

The best highway route from Montrose to Scranton 
is across country to the Lackawanna, then along the 
railroad and Martin's Creek, across Tunkliannock 
Creek at Nicholson viaduct, and south to the city of 
the Lackawanna Valle^^ 

In every direction from beautiful Scranton most 
attractive trips can be made. Lake Winola, Clark's 
Summit, Carbondale, Mount Cobb, and the Nay Aug 
Valley, are among the glorious surroimdings that lure 
and satisfy the searcher for the picturesque. 

A roundabout trip to W^ilkes-Barre may be made 
through the Nay Aug Valley, but while this should not 
be missed, the ride over the Laurel line through the 
Lackaw^anna and Wyoming valleys should also be taken. 
The adjoining valleys have been likened to two out- 
spread wings, balanced on a pivotal point at Pittston, 
half way between Scranton and W^ilkes-Barre. 

There are those who say that the beauty of these 
valleys is marred by the culm banks and the coal break- 
ers. Yet this is a matter of opinion. Once an English- 
man asked an American wheelman who was riding from 
Liverpool, by way of Birmingham, to London, "Why 
do you go through the Black Country.'*" He gave the 
very reason that sensible travelers are apt to give 
for lingering in these Pennsylvania valleys; they are 
not marred, but their beauty is enhanced, by the ever- 
present indications of underground activity, even by the 
distressing cave-ins above the mine workings. Really 
the breakers and the culm banks are so few, compara- 
tively, and the valleys are so gloriously ample, that 
even those who wish to complain find slight reason. 

No wonder Connecticut did not wish to give up these 

249 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

valleys, that Penn wanted to keep them, that the Indian 
resented the white man's intrusion, and that settlers 
persisted in returning in spite of repeated massacres. 

The few miles below Scranton, through the ridge 
that frames the Lackawanna Valley on the north, are a 
preparation for the more open lands toward Pittston, 
and then for the Vale of Wyoming below. 

Fairview Summit, overlooking Wilkes-Barre, is well 
worth a second visit. From here the Lackawanna and 
Wyoming valleys are spread out like a map. For twenty 
miles the towns and villages and the shining river may 
be seen in all their beauty. The scene changes every 
moment, only to become more attractive until it is shut 
out entirely by intervening ridges. 

Glen Summit is the next vantage point on the Lehigh 
Valley Railroad and the highway that keeps it close 
company, for a distance, at least. To the west lies the 
valley of the Wapwallopen and the mountains beyond. 
Here is a place to stand and drink in the grandeur of the 
wild surroundings, while saying a hearty amen to Henry 
Timrod's exclamation: 

"At last, beloved Nature! I have met 
Thee face to face upon thy breezy hills, 
And boldly, where thy inmost bowers are set. 
Gazed on thee naked in thy mountain rills." 

The rapid down-grade rush from Glen Summit dis- 
closes ridge beyond ridge to the far horizon, the first- 
green, the next blue, the last so hazy that it might 
almost be a cloud, and all showing the continuously 
undulating sky line so characteristic of Pennsylvania 
mountain scenery. Now and then there is the sharp 
descent in a ridge that suggests a gap. Sometimes there 
is a compensating opposing descent, and it may be there 

250 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

is an overlapi)ing ridge whose complementary slope is 
hidden from view. 

Soon the Lehigh is reached at White Haven Junction. 
Here the view up stream is a delight, while down stream 
it keeps up its charm in a most alluring manner. 

White Haven offers a side trip up the Nescopec Val- 
ley, whose revelations are cumulative, until Prospect 
Rock is reached, nine miles away. Across a deep ravine, 
to which has been given the name Glen Thomas, Cloud 
Point gives assurance that it can provide a view as 
magnificent as Prospect Rock. 

Back to the swirling Lehigh, and the encircling moun- 
tains. The channel is not more than three hundred 
feet or so wide; and it turns suddenly, irregularly and 
often. This is said to be the most irregular and rugged 
mountain region in the state, and the fall of the river is 
especially rapid here. From White Haven to Mauch 
Chunk the total fall is 642 feet. In this twenty -five mile 
stretch the stream cuts through at least seven distinct 
mountains. It is a pity that the river is not followed 
closely by a good road; but it is possible to keep within 
reach of the stream much of the way, though often by 
indifferent roads. 

In the days of the canal packets the route between 
WHiite Haven and Mauch Chunk was most popular 
because of its grand scenery. So there was nmch sorrow 
when the flood of 18G2, with the river thirty feet above 
low water mark, did so much damage to the canal that 
transit was interrupted and never resumed its former 
proportions. More than one hundred and fifty lives 
were lost in the flood, as many canal boats were de- 
stroyed, and thirty million feet of lumber. 

From the river there are fascinating glimpses of the 
stratified rocks, whose departure from the perpendicu- 

251 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

lar tells the slory of the great upheavals by which these 
iiioiintains were forined. Roads do not always give 
opportunity to see these bits of river scenery, for they 
have a disagreeable fashion — from the standpoint of 
the sightseer — of cutting across bends which the rail- 
road follows faithfully. 

Toward Glen Onoko the river and the railroad seem 
to dis})ute the narrow passage between the rock}' tree- 
clad slopes which rise almost perpendicularly. The 
road is t)n the heights above the stream. 

At a point where the river makes a sharp turn about 
a beetling crag, a picturesque foot suspension bridge, 
wide enough for one passenger to cross in comfort — 
when he becomes used to the height and the swinging 
structure — leads with abrupt descent across the stream 
to a sheltered house on the left bank. Not far away is 
Glen Onoko, which, in the opinion of some, vies with 
Switzerland in its mountain scenery, its glens and water- 
falls. Onoko Falls is ninety feet high. At one point 
can be seen not only Onoko Falls, but also Chameleon 
Falls, 150 feet high, and the cascade. 

Mauch Chunk also has been called "the Switzerland 
of America." It is "a town of two main streets, one 
along the mountain wall above the river, the other 
reaching back into a gap in the mountain." A visitor in 
185^2 gave a description of it that is not mitrue to-day: 

"It is a bird's nest of a place, hemmed in by high and 
steep mountains on all sides, some gracefully curving 
around it, while others terminate abrui)tly in its midst, 
and seemingly frown down upon it." 

The town, whose name is Indian for Bear Mountain, 
was settled in 1815, for the development of its coal 
resources, whose discovery dates from 1791. On the 
summit of Sharp INIountain, where is to-day the town of 



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J'lint.. from l.cliiyli \iillry Kailmud (•(Hiipuny 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

Summit Hill, a hunter found the first coal. He took 
samples to Pliiladelphia, and a company was organized 
in 1792 to develop the mine. Little was done, however, 
until after the war of 1812, and the attempts made 
then were unpromising. In Philadelphia permission was 
given to try the new fuel under the boiler of the new 
water works at Center Square. The engineer said it 
put the fire out, so what remained from the trial was 
broken up and used instead of gravel. 

Two new companies were formed in 1818 — the Lehigh 
Coal Company and the Lehigh Navigation Company. 
These two companies later became the Lehigh Coal 
and Navigation Company. But progress was slow. 
In 1820 but 385 tons were mined from the fifty-three- 
foot vein on top of Mauch Chunk Mountain. At 
as late a date as 1824 there was great distrust of the 
coal. This was illustrated by the passage in Abijali 
Hall's notes of travel when he said : 

"My father procured a lump of Lehigh coal about as 
large as his two fists, and tried it on his wood fire in an 
open Franklin stove. After two days he concluded that 
if the world should take fire, the Lehigh Coal mine would 
be the safest retreat, the last place to burn.' ' 

Until 1827 wagons were used to transport the coal 
from the top of the mountain to the Lehigh. Then the 
daring project was made to build the gravity road to 
Summit Hill, on Mount Pisgah, nine hundred feet above 
the river. The work was done in rapid time, and by 
May 1, 1827, the road was in operation. The short road 
at Quincy, Massachusetts, and the section of the Balti- 
more and Ohio from Baltimore to Ellicott's Mills, are 
the onl}' older roads on the continent. 

The trip up the gravity road soon became one of the 
wonders of travel. Its fame has been world-wide. Not 

253 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

only is the method of transportation attractive, but the 
view from Mount Pisgah is subHme. Below lies Mauch 
Chunk with its typical oxbow bend, in the shadow of 
the mountain. At their base winds the Lehigh. Moun- 
tain ranges stretch away in succession. Lehigh Gap is 
seen far to the south, while Schooley's Mountain also 
appeiirs, though this is distant by rail sixty-five miles. 

For many years coal-carrying activities ceased at the 
Switchback, but during the recent European war new 
demands on the mine led its owners to begin once more 
to bring the coal down to the Lehigh, as well as to carry 
sightseers to the summit. 

Before leaving Mauch Chunk, a visit should be 
paid to Moore's Run, whose water descends about 
three hundred feet in twenty- two cascades and falls. 
Moore's Falls is the largest and most attractive of 
these. The falls are in a glen whose sides are one 
hundred feet high. 

Far older than Mauch Chunk is the first settlement 
on the site of Lehighton, several miles down the river. 
At the foot of the hill on which is the old Moravian 
graveyard is the site of Gnadenhiitten, where the Mora- 
vians came in 1746. Here, where the Warrior's Path 
crossed over the Lehigh Mountains, David Brainerd 
appeared when the mission was in its glory. 

In 1754 the mission moved bodily to what is now 
Weissport, then called New Gnadenhiitten. Soon after 
the removal the Indians destroyed the mission. Later 
Benjamin Franklin arranged for the building of Fort 
Allen here, to be one of the frontier defenses in the 
French and Indian War. 

All the way from Lehighton to Lehigh Gap the rare 
combinations of river and mountain vistas become 
more pleasing. The road is always twisting and turning, 

254 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

and each turn brings fresh deh'ghts — now a dam, above 
whose breast the deepened waters invite the swimmer, 
again a jutting headland or a ghmpse of well-kept farm 
land, a ridge whose summit disappears in a bank of 
low-lying clouds, or a mysteriously dark glen that lures 
one from the road to search out the secrets of the 
mountains. 

At Lehigh Gap the Lehigh forces its way through the 
Kittatinny Range, one more of the great mountain- 
disdaining feats of the torrent that rises more than two 
thousand feet above the sea, and descends fifteen hun- 
dred feet in the ninety-mile course to the Delaware. 
The towering cliffs on either side of the river can be 
appreciated by the passenger who leaves the train, not 
merely for a hasty glance, but for a walk up the creek 
whose entry into the river at this point adds to the 
picturesqueness of the surroundings. From one point of 
observation there is a smaller mountain that seems to 
close the gap. But between the obstructing mountain 
and Mauch Chunk another passage appears, and the 
way is open for the river to pass into Northampton 
County and begin its further descent to the nearby 
Delaware and its triumphant exit at Easton between 
two more mountains. 

Professor Silliman, the geologist, was greatly stirred 
by the grandeur of the gap and its surroundings. "As 
we approached the gap," he wrote, "the view became 
very beautiful, and as we entered it by the side of the 
Lehigh and of the fine canal upon the left of the bank, 
the mountain ridge, here cleft from top to bottom, and 
rising apparently a thousand feet, presented on either 
hand a promontory of rocks and forest, rising abruptly 
and forming a combination both grand and beautiful." 

From this point there are reaches where the waters 

2.55 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

eddy and whirl, yet the greater part of the journey is 
conducted so circumspectly that Augusta Moore was 
led to sing: 

"Lehigh, I dream that in thy voice 

I catch a tone of gladness, 
That yearning love is in thy touch, 

That thou wouldst soothe my sadness. 
Only in dreams for thirty years 

Have I beheld thee flowing, — 
Whither away so fast, dear stream? 

Why dost thou moan in going?' ' 

Now every town along the way tells a story or invites 
the eye. There is Slatington, from whose quarries has 
come some of the best of the country's slate; Laury's, 
where, just opposite, a rock projecting sixty or seventy 
feet above the river was called by the Indians Ope- 
kassett; Whitehall, near Coplay, where, in 1740, a Pliil- 
adelphian built a shooting box for himself and his friends 
which he called Grouse Hall, though, because it was 
painted white, it became known as White Hall; Cem- 
enton and Catasauqua, where roads, trees, houses bear 
witness to the fact that here is the center of the cement 
industry of eastern Pennsylvania, though, just beyond, 
the green trees and the hillsides are once more reflected 
in the waters alongside of which the slow-moving canal 
boats speak eloquently of the days of leisurely travel. 

Allentown is the center from which the cement towns 
may be explored with ease. Within twelve miles to the 
northeast of the city is produced at least one-fourth of 
all the Portland cement used in the United States. 

But Allentowii and its neighborhood have much 
more than cement to offer to visitors. At the conflu- 
ence of the Lehigh, the Little Lehigh, and Jordan 
Creek, it is one of the most beautiful cities in the state. 

256 




Al-<).\(i THK LKllKai, NKAU A L1.K.\ TOW N 

I'linio l.y I lie Kirktoll Stllilii)S 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

There may have been a little mdecislon as to its name — 
Northampton was the title chosen before 1800 and 
again between 1811 and 1838 — but there could not well 
be two thoughts about the unusual setting. It is built 
on a height, where the slope is to the river on the east 
and to the creek on the north. From Bauer's Rock, on 
South Mountain, three miles southeast, the view of the 
surroimdings is superb. 

There are in reality two rocks on the summit of 
the mountain. The southern rock looks out upon the 
Saucon Valley, the mountains, and the country to the 
southeast. The northern rock looks toward Allentown, 
the Lehigh Gap, the Blue Hills, the Little Gap, and the 
entire country to the west and the north, including the 
Trexler deer and buffalo parks, nine miles north. 

Allentown had its loyal part during the Revolution. 
One evidence of this is the bronze tablet on Zion Re- 
formed Church, telling that here was a place of the 
concealment of the Liberty Bell when the occupation 
of Philadelphia by the British in 1779 led to the 
hasty removal of the historic relic from its place in 
Independence Hall. 

A memorial of the recent European War also has been 
left in the Fair Grounds whose use, under the name of 
Camp Crane, resulted in the training of thousands of 
surgeons and their staffs for their mission of healing the 
wounds of the battlefield. 

Bethlehem also has its memorials of the Revolution, 
as well as indications that it had a large part in the 
European War. Here Lafayette's wounds were tended 
after the battle of Brandywine. Here Congress re- 
mained several days in 1777. The Sisters' House was 
used as a hospital for some time, as a tablet records. 
Gun and ammunition were made for the army, as 

17 257 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

they were manufactured in immense quantities during 
the European War by the Bethlehem Steel Works — a 
plant that employed 700 men in 1863, 9000 men before 
the recent War, and increased its plant tremendously at 
the call of the nation and of the allied world. 

Yet this is the city of the Moravians, the abode of 
peace. However, the people realize that sometimes the 
best way to have peace is to compel peace. The quieter 
message of the place is given in part through its music, 
an inspiring feature of its worship that attracts visitors 
from far and near. There is the picturesque custom of 
announcing a death at sunrise, when the trombone 
choir plays from the church cupola, one member facing 
north, one south, one east, one west. And, among 
other musical festivals, there is the great Bach Festival, 
the modern development of the old service of song first 
given in 1742, when Zinzendorf gathered the Moravians 
of his day on the hillside, across the river from the place 
where the church stands to-day. And because of this 
observance, as well as because of the life of the singers, 
"Betlilehem is Christianity set to music." 

In the days of old Bethlehem was an oasis in the 
desert, a place of beauty in the midst of wild desolation. 
In 1784 Johan Shoepf wrote of coming the last half of 
the way from Philadelphia "through the tedious same- 
ness of bush and forest," and was relieved and glad- 
dened by the unexpected appearance of "lofty build- 
ings in this presumptive wilderness." The Marquis de 
Chastellux told of his pleasant impressions more fully: 

"After travelling two days through a country alter- 
nately diversified with savage scenes and cultivated 
spots, on issuing out of the woods at the close of the 
evening, in the month of May, found myself on a beau- 
tiful extensive plain, with the vast eastern branch of the 

258 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

Delaware, richly interspersed with wooded islands, and 
at a distance of a mile in front of the town of Beth- 
lehem rearing its large stone edifices out of a forest, 
situated on a majestic but gradually rising eminence, 
the background formed by the setting sun. So novel 
and unexpected a transition filled the mind with a thou- 
sand singularand sublimeideas,and made an impression 
on me never to be effaced. The romantic and pic- 
turesque effect of this glorious display of natural beau- 
ties gave way to the still more noble and interesting 
sensation arising from a reflection on the progress of the 
arts and sciences, and the sublime anticipation of the 
'populous cities' and 'busy hum of men,' which are one 
day to occupy, and to civilize the vast wilderness of 
the New World." 

The modern visitor will not find surrounding desola- 
tion, but he will find a beautiful city by a pleasant river, 
with a hill in South Bethlehem that gives a wide pros- 
pect from the Delaware Water Gap to the disappearing 
Blue Ridge in the southwest. 

Nazareth, famous as the educational center of the 
Moravians, is within easy reach of Betlilehem, on the 
road that leads to the Wind Gap. 

Both Nazareth and the Wind Gap were landmarks in 
the Walking Purchase contest of 1737, while the Lehigh 
was crossed between Bethlehem and Freemansburg. 
The Indians had calculated that the Lehigh would be 
the limit of the primitive surveying expedition; they 
did not dream that it would be crossed before the trip 
was much more than begun. 

The Leni Lenapes, accustomed to William Penn's 
honorable method of dealing with them, made a treaty 
ceding additional lands to the "proprietor of Pennsyl- 
vania," extending from the Delaware in lower Bucks 
County to the most westerly branch of the Neshaminy, 

259 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

thence "as far as a man can go in a day and a half," 
and from the point so indicated to the river Delaware 
once more. 

In 1682, when WilHam Penn had bought land under 
similar conditions, he walked leisurely, in company 
with Indians and friends. After the Indian fashion 
they would sit doTsu frequently, to smoke or to eat. 
In a day and a half a distance less than thirty miles 
had been traversed. 

But Thomas and John Penn had a different idea. 
They advertised for fast walkers, and promised a 
rich prize to the one who should reach the farthest 
point in the stipulated time. Three men volunteered 
their services, Solomon Jennings, James Yates, and 
Edward Marshall. These men practiced walking for 
the occasion. The way was cleared for them through 
the wilderness far beyond the Lehigh. 

The start was made from Wrightstown in Bucks 
County. The men took their station at a spot marked 
to-day by an obelisk. Edward Marshall was deter- 
mined to outwalk the others, and carried a hatchet in 
his hands, that he might swing it from side to side, and 
so balance the action of his legs. As he hoped to do, he 
succeeded in passing both of his companions by the time 
he crossed the Lehigh. There was a halt of fifteen min- 
utes for dinner, which was carried by a man on horse- 
back. At the Wind Gap he was given a compass, since 
from that point the trail had not been blazed for him. 

Progress was continued the second day until two 
o'clock in the afternoon. By this time Marshall 
having passed to the right of the Pocono Moimtains, 
reached the limit of his progress, completely exhausted. 
The Indian who followed him the second day found it 
difficult to keep him in sight. When the tree was 

260 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

marked to indicate the spot reached, the Indian sadly 
witnessed the mark. 

The distance covered was more than one hundred and 
ten miles. This sounds like an impossibility, but another 
record tells of the journey from Mauch Chunk to 
Philadelphia, in 1832, of a dispatch bearer who walked 
ninety-six miles between five in the morning and 
midnight. 

But the cunning of the purchasers of the Indian lands 
was not yet at an end. Instead of running a line to the 
Delaware at the nearest point, they ran it at right 
angles to the line of walk. This reached the Delaware 
at the mouth of Lackawaxen Creek in Pike County. 
Thus the Indians were called upon to yield practically 
all of their lands on the Delaware within the boundary 
of Pennsylvania. 

When later the surveyor general and others passed 
over the ground, they were four days in covering 
Marshall's route. No wonder the Indians were enraged. 
It is said that their treatment on this occasion led to 
their siding against the English in the French and 
Indian war. Their feelings were indicated by one of 
their number who said of the "walk," "No sit down 
to smoke, no shoot a squirrel, l)ut lun, lun, lun all 
day long." 

West of Freemansburg, and within a short distance 
of the place where Marshall crossed the Lehigh, is a 
commanding ledge from whose summit may be seen 
a large section of the territory covered that first day 
of the walk. 

Easton, the point where the trusting Indian thought 
the line drawn from the end of the walk would reach the 
Delaware, is at the junction of the Delaware, the Lehigh, 
and the Bushkill. The Indians called the region "the 

261 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

forks of the Delaware." In later days the raftsmen 
spoke of the place as "Little Water Gap," because of 
the passage here of the Delaware through Weygadt 
Mountain. They dreaded the spot because it was the 
approach to Foul Rift, where great boulders in the 
stream impeded their progress. Geologists say these 
were left by the great glacial terminal moraine, which 
crossed the Delaware at this point. 

In colonial times Easton was a town of great impor- 
tance. Here, from 1754 to 17G1, Indian conferences 
were held. At one of these gatherings Teedyuscung 
succeeded in inducing the Delawares to take a stand 
against the Six Nations, to whom they had been so sub- 
servient that they swallowed the insulting message from 
the northern Indians, "We conquered you, we made 
women of you; jou know you are women, and can no 
more sell land than women." 

In the early days of the nineteenth century, Easton 's 
chief importance was as a canal center. Artificial water- 
ways led to Mauch Chunk, to Bristol, and to New 
York. The canal to Bristol is to-day the best pre- 
served canal in the state; it is in fact the only canal in 
regular use. 

From a number of heights above the Delaware in and 
about the city there are wide prospects of valley, river, 
and mountain. One of the best vantage points is on 
the campus of Lafayette College, whose grounds were 
long tended by the once famous Ik Marvel. Lafayette 
College is but twelve miles from Lehigh University at 
Bethlehem. It is a curious fact that these schools had 
for their benefactors, respectively, Ario Pardee and Asa 
Packer, once closely associated in the early days of the 
region. Packer was a boatman when the Lehigh canal 
was in its infancy, and he frequently carried goods to 

202 




■A r- 






ALONG WASTERN WATERWAYS 

Pardee, who kept a store at Hazleton. Both men made 
fortunes in the coal trade. 

On another of the heights above the city the Marquis 
de Chastellux stood in 1782, "to view the noble and 
enchanting prospect, with which it is impossible to 
satiate the eye." Probably he was writing of the out- 
look from the top of Weygadt Mountain, spoken of as 
one of the finest prospects in eastern Pennsylvania. 
From here Northampton County can be seen to the 
Kittatinny Mountains. The range is sharply outlined 
to the eye, without break except for the Wind Gap and 
the Water Gap. 

Before the days of the Bristol canal communication 
with Philadelphia was by the highway, or the excuse 
for a highway that sufficed for a long time. The route 
of the first stage driver was along the river for a few 
miles, then south by way of Doylestown. 

A variation of the route was indicated in an adver- 
tisement of 1776: 

"This is to let all Gentlemen and others know, that 
by the Incouragement I have from Several Gentlemen, 
That I, Jacob Abel of Philipsburg in Wessex County, 
West New Jersey, have resolve to Ride Post for the good 
of the Public. Intended to begin on the 5th day of Feb- 
ruary next on Monday in every Fournight till the 5 day 
of April, and from the 5 day of April to the 5 day of De- 
cember next, ensuring every Monday in a Week. 

"Take therefore myself the Liberty to recommend 
myself in the favor of the Publick. Advising them that 
on my return to Philadelphia shall Ride to German 
Town at the turn off on York Road, Cross the River at 
Darram and propose to Lieve my Packet at the follow- 
ing Person . . . 

"Any Passel or Letters What any Gentleman Person 
or Persons will be pleased to trust to the Rider care, may 
depend they shall be safely delivered; and, if it should 

263 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

be required, are willing (as able) to give security. Any 
Person or Persons that is willing to give incouragement 
to the Rider are desire to sign their worthy Names on 
the Superscription paper left in several Hands . . ." 

"Darram" was probably Durham, eight miles below 
Easton, at the mouth of Durham Creek. Here at one 
time was an Indian town named Pechoquealin, some 
forty miles below the town of the same name near the 
Water Gap. 

Less than two miles from the mouth of the creek was 
the famous Durham iron furnace, built in 1726, where 
shot and shell were made for Washington's army. James 
Logan was one of the owners; andirons made at the 
furnace may be seen to-day in his old home, Stenton, in 
Pliiladelphia. Near the furnace was a blacksmith's 
shop where were built the first Durham boats used for 
transportation on the Susquehanna and the Delaware. 
Washington used boats of this pattern in liis historic 
crossing of the Delaware; there is a bronze relief of one 
of them on the Trenton Battle monument. 

Durham furnace was a popular stopping place for 
curious visitors. Alexander Wilson was there in 1804, 
when making his pedestrian journey to the north. Of 
his visit he wrote: 

"Light beat our hearts with changing prospects gay. 
As down through Durham vale we bend our way. 
And pause, the furnace curious to explore, 
Where flames and bellows lately wont to roar 
Now waste and roofless; as its walls we pass 
The massive shells lie rusting in the grass. 
There let them rest, fell messengers of death, 
Till injured liberty be roused to wrath. 
In whose right hand may they, though hosts oppose. 
Be blasting thunderbolts to all her foes." 
204 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

A little to the west of the site of Durham furnace, 
Buckwampum Hill, the highest eminence in Bucks 
County, lifts its head. A beautiful rural country is 
spread out in all directions from the foot of the hill. 
Numerous watercourses diversify the landscape, Dur- 
ham Creek being one of the pleasantest of these. It is 
related that into this creek one of Edward Marshall's 
companions fell exhausted during the "walk" of 1737, 
and that he w^as blind when he recovered consciousness. 

The road leaves the Delaware River at Kintnersville, 
just a mile above the Nockamixon Rocks, an almost 
perpendicular cliff of red sandstone. Prospect Rock, 
the highest point, is 360 feet above the water. One of 
the most attractive drives in Pennsylvania is at the foot 
of the cliff. In 1832 a stage line from Easton to New 
Hope ran at the base of the rocks, and the enterprising 
proprietor said in his advertisement, "The towering 
rocks of Nockamixon are of themselves so grand and 
majestic as amply to repay the stranger for a ride of 
pleasure to see them." 

For three miles the river passes through what is 
known as the Narrows, between Rock Hill in Pennsyl- 
vania and Musconetcong Mountain in New Jersey. 
Travelers know the cliffs on the Pennsylvania side as 
the Palisades of the Delaware. They may be seen to 
best advantage from the trains of the Pennsylvania 
Railroad from Trenton to Philipsburg. 

Perhaps twenty miles south of the Palisades, Doyles- 
town, the county seat of Bucks County, is seated on 
high lands which command a wide prospect of some of 
the finest farming land in the state. To the east, 
toward New Hope, is the vale of Lahaska, with its 
great spring, Hollikonk, and its outlet basin, Aquetong, 
where, according to the Indians, a deer pursued by an 

205 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Indian escaped, while the Indian broke through the lime- 
stone crust, from which the spring burst forth. There, 
the story goes, he ever pleads for release. 

To the south is the Neshaminy, always numbered 
among the most beautiful streams of the state. On 
its banks stands the church from which John Fitch 
was walking when the idea of the steamboat first came 
to him. 

Farther down the stream Washington had his head- 
quarters when Lafayette came to him first. And on the 
same creek, only three miles from Doylestown, is said to 
be the site of the grave of Tamanend, Indian chief, the 
original of New York City's St. Tamman}^ who, accord- 
ing to the story, was burned to death near the spot of 
his burial. The sad manner of his passing was celebra- 
ted in 1783 by the Tammany brotherhood of Philadel- 
phia as they sang : 

"At last, growing old and quite worn out with years. 

As history doth truly proclaim, 
His wigwam was fired, he nobly expired. 
And flew to the skies in a flame.' ' 

From Doylestown a pleasing road leads northwest 
over hill and dale back to Lehigh County, passing on 
the way, in Milford township, the home of John Fries, 
the man who, in 1798 and 1799, led the people in rebellion 
against the government, because of the imposition of an 
insignificant but unpopular dwelling tax. The rebellion 
reached such proportions that President Adams issued a 
warning to the insurgents. Troops were sent out along 
the Bethlehem road. After capturing Fries, the soldiers 
marched from Quakertown to Allentown, and then back 
to Philadelphia by way of Reading. Fries was convicted 
of treason, but was later pardoned by the President. 

The road followed by the troops from Allentown to 

2G0 




.S h.^ll AMI.N i FALLS 
Photo from Pliila.l.'lphia & Hcii.linti; Railroad 




'•^^^^ 



■-Lx .\iii,Ks i;.\s]' or Do"^ i,i;s row N 

I'liolo l,v tl:.- riay Studio 



ALONG EASTERN WATERWAYS 

Reading dates from 1753. It crosses over into Berks 
County at Maxatawny, the center of a district so 
loved by the Indians that they remained there long 
after they had left otlier parts of the country. All the 
way to Reading, and several miles below the road, is a 
range of fine hills whose summits linn't the view to the 
south, while gently sloping ground between rests the 
traveler's eye. 

Where the road turns south along the Schuylkill 
toward Reading is the little town of Berkley. The 
name was given to it because* its situation in the valley, 
with reference to Reading, is sinn'lar to that of Berkley 
in England to its neighbor, Reading. 

From the earl\' da^s of the colony, visitors who 
knew England have said that the valley of the Schuyl- 
kill in Berks County is like the best of rural England. 
But those who have learned to love these hills and vales 
are unwilling to think that there is anywhere a country 
that can be compared to the lands that lie in the shadow 
of Penn and Neversink, the guardian mountains of the 
manor of Perm at Reading. 



ROUTE VI 
FROM PITTSBURGH TO LAKE ERIE AND BACK 

ABOUT 300 MILES 

' ' l^lORT du Quesne will be the most considerable 

W^ and important place of any, perhaps, in 

North America, and by its situation and many 

conveniences the most proper of an j' place to become the 

capital of that whole continent and give laws to it.' 

The loyal Pittsbiirgher will appreciate that quotation 
from the Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure, 
published in London in July, 1757, and, while agreeing 
that the prophecy has not been fulfilled in its entirety, 
he can console himself by the reflection that the city is 
filling a place far more important in the nation than the 
writer dreamed would be possible, and also in the assur- 
ance that he was just as wild in many other assertions 
made in the article. For instance there was the odd 
statement that "the Ohio runs through a great part of 
our colonies of Pennsylvania and Carolina, and waters a 
country near five hundred miles square." He insisted 
that the Ohio was " not less than ten or twelve thousand 
miles long, from its source near the habitation of the 
Six Nations to its confluence with the Mississippi." 

Fort du Quesne was said to be "about midway be- 
tween Canada and Louisiana, the most convenient of all 
places, ... a place of consequence and importance, 
and the rendezvous of all the people of North America." 

In the desire to take advantage of the highway nature 
had generously provided for the use of the people of 
the continent who made "rendezvous" there, many 
efforts were made to provide for the navigation of the 

268 



PITTSBURGH TO LAKE ERIE AND BACK 

Ohio. One of the most curious of these attempts was 
described by James Kenny, a trader at Fort Pitt, the 
successor of Fort du Quesne. The quotation is from 
his diary 

" 1761, 4th mo: 4, A young man called Wm. Ramsey, 
has made two Httle boats, being squair at ye sterns, and 
joined together at ye sterns by a swivel, make ye two in 
form of one boate, but will turn around shorter than a 
boat of ye same length, or raise with more safety in falls 
and in case of striking rocks; he has also made an engine 
that goes with wheels enclosed in a box, to be worked by 
one man, by sitting on ye end of ye box, and tredding 
on treddles at bottom with his feet, sets ye wheels agoing 
which work seniles or short paddles fixed over ye gun- 
nels turning them round; ye under one always laying 
hold in ye water, will make ye boate goe as if two men 
rowed; and he can steer at ye same time by lines like 
plow lines." 

Unfortunately history tells nothing more of this con- 
trivance whose inventor had in mind a thought that 
might have been developed into a regular steamboat, 
many years ahead of Robert Fulton or even of John Fitch. 

More startling still was the effort made in 1801 by a 
Frenchman named Louis Anastasius Taras9on. He had 
the vision of Pittsburgh not merely at the head of navi- 
gation on the Ohio, but as a seaport laying tribute on 
foreign commerce. The first year's shipbuilding pro- 
gram included one vessel of 120 tons and another of 250 
tons. These were loaded with flour, one for St. Thomas, 
the other for Philadelphia. At Philadelphia the latter 
vessel loaded for Bordeaux and returned with a cargo 
that was sent on to Pittsburgh by wagon, across Penn- 
sylvania. The ships could sail down the river, but they 
could not return! 

Henry Clay told in Congress of an experience of the 
captain of one of the Taras9on-built vessels. At Leg- 

269 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

horn "the Master presented his papers to the custom- 
house oflBcer, who said to him, 'Sir, your papers are 
forged ; there is no such port as Pittsburgh in the world ; 
your vessel must be confiscated.' But the captain took 
a map of the United States, directed him to the Gulf of 
Mexico, pointed out the mouth of the Mississippi; led 
him a thousand miles up to the mouth of the Ohio, 
and then another thousand up to Pittsburgh. 'There, 
sir, is the port from which my vessel cleared out,' he 
said, in triumph." 

Keelboats and barges were used for transport between 
Pittsburgh and Louisville until 1811, when Nicholas J. 
Roosevelt, Chancellor Livingston, and Robert Fulton 
planned for the construction of the first steamboat in 
western waters. 

Mr. Roosevelt was the builder. Men were sent to 
the forests to cut timber for ribs, keels, and beams. 
These were rafted down the Monongahela to the ship- 
yard. Planking was cut from white pine logs in the 
old-fashioned saw-pits. A shipbuilder and the me- 
chanics required were brought from New York. 

At last the boat, one hundred and sixteen feet long, 
was ready, and was christened the New Orleans. There 
was a ladies' cabin containing four berths. One of these 
Mrs. Roosevelt announced her intention of occupying. 
Friends in Pittsburgh appealed to her to give up the 
dangerous project; but she insisted that there was no 
danger; she believed in her husband. 

Eager watchers at Pittsburgh saw the vessel swing 
into the stream and disappear around the first head- 
lands; the prophecies of disaster at the very start had 
not been fulfilled. The pilot, the captain, and the crew 
had their misgivings, but these were soon set at rest 
by the behavior of the boat. 
270 



PITTSBURGH TO LAKE ERIE AND BACK 

The route taken by the first Ohio River steamboat is 
also, for more than twenty-five miles, the route of the 
traveler who would go north to Erie, for the Ohio flows 
to the northwest before turning west and then south. 

Fourteen miles from Pittsburgh, and just over the 
line in Beaver County, was located Logstown, an Indian 
village in colonial days, where the English gathered for 
the making of treaties, even when the French were in 
the stronghold at Fort du Quesne, and though Logstown 
was one of the places where, in 1742, Celeron de Bien- 
ville had planted a leaden plate, claiming the Ohio 
Valley for France. 

Conrad Weiser, who was a visitor there in 1748, was 
accompanied by William Franklin, the son of whom 
Benjamin Franklin was so proud until he grieved his 
father by becoming a Tory during the Revolution. 
Christopher Gist arrived at the river outpost on Novem- 
ber 25, 1750. Major George Washington followed in 
November, 1753, and held a conference with Chief 
Tanacharison, the Indian who, at a later date, said 
sadly, "The French claim the land on one side of the 
Ohio, and the English on the other: where does the 
Indian land lie.^" Five years later Christian Frederick 
Post, Moravian missionary, found here "about thirty 
houses." In 1764 Colonel Bouquet stopped at the 
trading post when on his expedition against the Ohio 
Indians. At that time he said: 

"The lower town extended about sixty perches over 
a rich bottom to the foot of a low, steep ridge, on the 
summit of which, commanding a most agreeable pros- 
pect over the lower and across the Ohio, which is quite 
500 yards wide here, and by its majestic, easy current 
adds much to the beauty of the place. " 

Not far above the site of old Logstown George 

271 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Rapp founded his celebrated community town, Econ- 
omy, erected substantial buildings, of which many are 
still standing, and began the development of the village. 
Of this place a traveler of 1826 said, after a visit: 

"The articles for the use of the society are kept by 
themselves, as the members have no private possessions, 
and everything is in common. The clothing and food 
they make use of is the best quality; of the latter, flour, 
salt meat, and all long-keeping articles are served out 
monthly; fresh meat, on the contrary, and whatever 
spoils readily, is distributed whenever it is killed, ac- 
cording to the size of the family. " 

The five hundred Economists of 1843 were reduced to 
250 in 1890, and since then they have gradually dwin- 
dled. But while their activity in the town is now only a 
matter of history, their helpful influence in the county 
and, in fact, the entire country can be easily traced. 

Two towns near the great bend of the Ohio are closely 
connected by history as well as by tradition. Monaca, 
or Philipsburg, as it was called once, was a boat-building 
town, until a seceding company of two hundred and 
fifty people from Economy bought the place, and for 
eighteen months tried to build up a rival town. The 
boatyards were then removed to Freedom, whose situ- 
ation on the flats and in the hills has been spoken of as 
one of the most pictm-esque on the Ohio River. On the 
heights there is afforded a splendid view of the river, 
the valley, and the majestic bend where the stream 
turns toward the Gulf of Mexico. 

At the point where the entrance of the Beaver River 
from the north completes the triangular division of 
Beaver county, so similar to that of Allegheny and 
several other counties in the state, the "Tuscarawas 
trail," the local name of Nemacolin's Path, crossed the 



PITTSBURGH TO LAKE ERIE AND BACK 

Beaver River and led on through what is now the city of 
Beaver. On the site of Rochester was Mingo Village, 
and from here another trail led to Lake Erie. 

The Beaver River itself was one of the pathways of 
Indian travel for those who sought Presque Isle and 
Lake Erie. Later it became the route for the Beaver 
division of the canal toward Lake Erie, included in the 
scheme of Pennsylvania internal improvements. It is 
of interest that the stream was named for the beaver, 
whose activities along the bank were noteworthy. The 
little animal gave its name to Beavertown also, and 
then to Beaver County. 

When Washington paid his second visit to Beaver 
County he admired the country at the confluence of the 
rivers. On October 21, 1770, he wrote that land in the 
neighborhood could be bought for £5 for one hundred 
acres, in ten thousand acre lots. This might seem an 
attractive price, until the added words of Washington 
are remembered, "At present the unsettled state of the 
country renders any purchase dangerous." 

Within five miles of the mouth of the Beaver there 
are many bustling towns, all in a setting unusually 
attractive. As long ago as 1840 it was said of them: 

"Beaver is not, properlj^ one town, but a little cluster 
of towns, a sort of United States in miniature, situated 
around the mouth of the river and four or five miles up 
that stream." 

Rudyard Kipling grew enthusiastic on the occasion 
of his visit to this region. Witness his words: 

"Imagine a rolling, wooded English landscape, with 
the softest of blue skies, dotted at three-mile intervals 
with foothills, quaint little villages, and a generous man- 
ufacturing town." 

The prosperity of this cluster of communities, as well 

18 273 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

as part of their picturesque character, is accounted for 
by the falls of the Beaver, five niiles above its mouth, 
whose water power is supplemented by the stretch of 
stream below. There, within five miles, the fall is sixty- 
nine feet. 

Bridgewater and New Brighton, two more of the 
towns whose industries are fed by the water power from 
the falls, were chosen by Aaron Burr in 1805 for the 
building of boats for the transportation of his expedi- 
tion to establish an empire in the southwest. The boats, 
called Orleans boats, differed from the old keel boats 
in being covered over for protection from the weather. 

An earlier expedition of an entirely different character 
disembarked not far from the spot where Aaron Burr's 
boats started on their journey. In 1770 David Zeis- 
berger brought sixteen canoe loads of Indians down the 
Allegheny from Venango County to Pittsburgh, then 
up the Ohio to Beaver, and up the Beaver to Beaver 
Falls. There the canoes were left behind and the pos- 
sessions of the emigrants were taken by land to Kaskas- 
kunk, not far from the site of Darlington, in the north- 
western part of Beaver County. Mission work was 
carried on at this place for three years, when it was 
necessary to give it up because of increasing danger. 

One of the picturesque river junctions so character- 
istic of Pennsylvania is at New Castle, the county seat 
of Lawrence County. Here, near the center of the 
county named for Perry's flagship in the battle of Lake 
Erie, the Mahoning and Shenango Rivers come together 
to form the Beaver. 

The quiet, peaceful surroundings of beautiful 
Lawrence County are so satisfying that the thoughtful 
traveler responds quickly to Bishop Spaulding's char- 
acteristic definition of education: 

274 




JORDAN RUN, ERIE CCJl'NTY 

to hy State nepartinent of Forestr.^ 




PENETRATION ROAD IN MERCER COUNTY 
Photo by Stuti- Hif^liway Di-partineiit 



PITTSBURGH TO LAKE ERIE AND BACK 

"To run, to jump, to ride, to swim, to sit in the shade 
of trees by flowing waters, to look on orchards bloom- 
ing, to dream in the silence that lies amid the hills, to feel 
the solemn loneliness of the deep woods, to follow cat- 
tle as the}^ crop the sweet-scented clover, to learn, too, 
as one knows a mother's face, every change that comes 
over the heavens from the dewj- freshness of the early 
morn to the restful calm of evening, from the overpower- 
ing mystery of the starlit sky to the look with which the 
moon smiles upon the earth; all this is education of a 
higher and more real kind than it is possible to receive 
within the walls of a school; and, lacking this, nothing 
shall have power to develop the faculties of the soul in 
symmetry and completeness." 

When the way leads to New Wilmington, in the 
northern part of the county, the impression is deepened. 
For, in the neighborhood of the town, Neshannock Creek 
comes down from the north; Neshannock Falls are just 
outside, and there are heights from which to view the 
fertile valley to the north, the south, and the east. 

From New Wilmington there is opportunity to go 
across the southwest corner of Mercer County, through 
the valley of the Shenango to Sharon, one of the most 
attractive towns of western Pennsylvania, and from 
Sharon it is possible to approach Lake Erie by a road 
that just avoids the state line, then crosses it and tres- 
passes on Ohio to Conneaut on the lake. Another road, 
however, though perhaps not so good, leads north from 
Sharon, through some of the most interesting country 
in Mercer and Crawford counties, and comes within 
reach of Lake Erie halfway between Conneaut and Erie, 
For many miles this road passes through the valley of 
the Shenango, then turns toward Conneaut Lake in 
Crawford County. This, the largest lake in the state, 
is three miles long and one mile wide. The Indians 
called it Kon-ne-yaut, "snow place," because the snow 

275 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

and ice remained here long after they had disappeared 
from the surrounding country. From the clear water 
of the lake the Beaver and Erie canal was supplied in 
part, the surface of the lake being raised ten feet by a 
dam across the southern outlet. Wlien the canal was 
abandoned, the dam was removed, and the lake was 
restored to its former state, making the place more than 
ever a joy to those who go there for a brief time or 
remain in the hotels or cottages that have been built 
on the shore. 

Crawford County owes much of its singular beauty 
to the fact that it is on the summit of the watershed 
that separates the valley of the Mississippi from that 
of the St. Lawrence. The ridge between Pine Creek 
and Conneaut, immediately north of the lake, is the 
point of division. From this ridge the ground slopes from 
the five hundred feet elevation of Conneaut to the five 
hundred and seventy -three feet of Lake Erie, and from 
it as from the shore of the lake, there are waiting for 
the visitor vistas of rare beauty. 

"Nowhere is the landscape more picturesque and 
charming,' ' is the verdict of one who yielded gladly to 
the lure of Conneaut scenery. "The distant line of blue 
hills is hardly distinguishable from the clouds of heaven. 
Not infrequently in winding along the bold headlands, 
one comes upon a hidden cascade as enchanting in its 
appointments as the cunningly devised imitation, plan- 
ned with studied elegance for the gratification of an 
oriental monarch. A valley may stretch away for a 
score of miles, through which a stream lazily pursues its 
tortuous course; the bold hills close in at its mouth al- 
most to the very margin, leaving scarcely room for the 
smaller to make its way to the larger body. The trav- 
eler never ceases to admire the varying line of the hori- 

276 




Phot. 



KOAU l.\ tKA\VF(jKU (()INT\ 
liy State Highway Departiiieiit 




Al I KK 
I'h 



HCKSIIKI' l.\ LAV\KK.\( K COINTV 
II hy State Ili(;hway Departnieiit 




■ )\h:lt 'I'lll'; IIIM,S AM) I'Ah AWA^ 
I'll.. I.. I.\ .1. Il..r.-i.-.- M.-I'i.rl;iii.i (■..iii,.iiii 




^ 'I'lll.; i{A\iM.;, NKAit I'li'i'SHrmai 

I'lidtci by Stiilr llii!liwa.\- I ).|i:.i I nH-rit 



PITTSBURGH TO LAKE ERIE AND BACK 

zon, cut by the summits of remote ridges, sometimes 
jagged by a relentless peak, at others rounded out by a 
comely slope." 

A short detour to the west of the lake leads to famous 
Pymatuning Swamp, the source of the Shenango, whose 
nine thousand acres are thought to have been at one 
time the bed of a lake. One reason for the conjec- 
ture is that Indian canoes have been found beneath the 
surface. In the days before much of the land was made 
available for agriculture a local historian said of it: 

"Though there are portions of the surface sufficiently 
elevated to support forest vegetation, yet it cannot be 
entered with teams for removing logs, except in winter 
time, when it is frozen over. In a pjart of the swamp is 
a growth of tamaracks, where in the fall of the year vast 
flocks of wild pigeons from Canada made their roosting 
ground. In the hot summer nights the constant flap- 
ping of their wings, produced by being crowded from 
their perches, gave forth a sound not unlike the distant 
roar of Niagara. Hunters would enter the swamp in the 
drouth of summer, and, aiming up at a limb bending 
down with the weight of the birds, would fire, and, having 
struck a light and picked up as many as could be discov- 
ered in the tall grass, would pass on for another shot. " 

On now to the north, following the direct route taken 
by the pigeons from Pymatuning when returning to 
Canada; on to the road that leads not far from the 
southern shore of Lake Erie. 

At Presque Isle is the only break in the elevated bar- 
riers of sand and clay that stretch between the water 
and the land. Here Erie looks out from the bluff on the 
bay and the peninsula. The harbor, four miles long ]>y 
half a mile wide, is one of the best on the lake. 

At this point, in 1742, Celeron de Bienville built a 
fort of logs as one of the series of forts planned to hold 

277 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

the region west of the Alleghenies against the EngHsh 
traders. Later the stronghold came into the hands of the 
English and the colonists. General Wayne had a gar- 
rison here, in 1794, when on his way to the Maumees. 
His death occurred on his return to the fort in 1796. 
His body was buried near the lake, but was removed to 
Old St. David's at Radnor, near Philadelphia, in 1809. 

Presque Isle next came into prominence in 1812. In 
July of that year Captain Daniel Dobbins lost his vessel 
to the British at Mackinac Island. By w^ay of Erie he 
went to Washington, and at a meeting of the Cabinet 
he gave the first information of the surrender of Mack- 
inac Island and Detroit. At the same time he urged the 
establishment of a naval depot at Erie. Not only was 
his suggestion adopted, but he was given a commis- 
sion in the navy, and was instructed to proceed to 
Erie and begin to build a number of gunboats. Three 
months after the capture of his vessel he was at work. 
Six months later, when he had brought ship carpenters 
from Black Rock, iron from Pittsburgh, and timber 
from the forests near by, and had completed three gun- 
boats. Commodore Perry arrived. More ship carpen- 
ters were brought from the east, the work was speeded 
up, and in August, ten months after the beginning of 
operations, the fleet was ready for sailing. During the 
process of lifting the vessels over the bar the British 
fleet was in sight, but when the gunboats were ready 
the hostile vessels had disappeared. Perry sought them. 
Finally, on September 10, 1813, he came up with them, 
gave battle, and spoke the memorable words, "Don't 
give up the ship. " 

Pennsylvania might have missed the honor of having 
the fleet built within her borders, and it was due to the 
farsightedness of General William Irwin, whom Wash- 

278 



PITTSBURGH TO LAKE ERIE AND BACK 

ington sent to northwestern Pennsylvania to examine 
and report on the land, that the valuable frontage on 
Lake Erie became a part of the state. Noting that 
Pennsylvania had no harbor on the lake, and only a 
meager frontage of several miles, he resolved to tell 
others of the need of securing the Triangle that now 
forms nearly half of Erie County. Congress arranged 
matters by persuading New York, Massachusetts, and 
Connecticut to release their claim. Then the 202,187 
acre tract was sold to Pennsylvania for $151,640.25, or 
seventy -five cents per acre. The patent was signed by 
George Washington as President and Thomas Jefferson 
as Secretary of State. 

The first step in the procedure was taken when Penn- 
sylvania bought from the Six Nations who had not 
included the Triangle in earlier sales, the Indian rights 
to the land by the payment of $12,000. The treaty, 
made in 1789, was signed by more than twenty chiefs, 
who had picturesque names like the Big Bale of a 
Kettle, the Broken Twig, Twenty Canoes, Tearing 
Asunder, the Dancing Feather, Bandy Legs, and Throw 
Lito the Water. 

Several years passed before the Indians were satisfied 
to let go the territory they had sold. In 1791 a second 
treaty was made, $800 additional was paid, and the 
land was open to settlement. 

The value of the acreage transferred was appreciated 
not only because of the lake frontage, but because of 
the fact that, unlike other parts of Pennsylvania, it was 
a level plain, separated by a low ridge some eight or 
ten miles back from the shore, from the higher land to 
the south. 

A picturesquely worded opinion of the quality of the 
land was given by Colonel Andrew Porter in 1788: 

279 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

"The soil v/ill come under the description Tolnrahle 
good. The country is clear of mountains and but 
very little broke with Hills. In many parts of it are 
very rich Tracts of land, and some parts are rather 
wet and swampy. It abounds with a great variety 
of Timber." 

Erie, the metropolis of the Triangle, is notable in 
railroad history as well as in naval history. When the 
first railroads were constructed the gauge of the road 
from the East was four feet ten inches; of that from 
the West six feet. Through trains could not be run; 
passengers had to transfer at Erie. Usually it was neces- 
sary to remain in the town for a part of a day, or for 
the night. 

In 1846 the Erie Railroad talked of changing the 
gauge from six feet to standard width. The merchants 
and the city officials protested; why should they ap- 
prove a change that would deprive them of much of 
their income? It was better, they felt, to be at the 
terminus of two roads than to have trains pass through 
the town. As an expression of dissent they tore up por- 
tions of seven miles of the Erie's tracks, and passen- 
gers had to be transferred across the gap in the dead of 
winter. This trip, called "crossing the isthmus," was 
much dreaded by the passengers, many of whom had 
feet, hands, and faces frost-bitten. Horace Greeley, 
one of the victims, said in the New York Tribune, "Let 
Erie be avoided by all travellers until grass shall grow 
in her streets.' ' 

Of course a compromise was reached before many 
years, and " the Isthmus' ' became history. 

Long before the days of railroads, wagon roads 
crossed the easy, level stretches of Erie County. In 
1742 Celeron de Bienville cut a road fifteen miles to the 

280 



PITTSBURGH TO LAKE ERIE AND BACK 

River aux Boeufs at what is now Waterford, where 
there was another of the series of French forts. 

Eighty-five years later the stretch of road was im- 
proved and operated as a turnpike. A stage coach 
company quarreled with the turnpike company over 
the tolls and built a new road from Waterford to Erie 
which became kno\\Ti as the "shunpike. " A portion of 
this old road is still in use as a township liighway. 

From W'aterford to the south is the road over which 
Commodore Perry's pow^der supply was brought in 
1813. The ammunition came by wagons from "Wilming- 
ton, Delaware, by way of Bedford, Pittsburgh, But- 
ler, and Mercer. \Mien the centennial celebration of 
Perry's victory was held in 1913, a feature was the 
passage over the same route of an old Conestoga wagon, 
loaded with powder. 

Along the eastern bank of French Creek, where the 
turnpike shows the way as far south as Meadville, was 
the old Indian path from Fort Venango to Fort Le 
Boeuf. "Washington followed this path in 1753, though 
on his return journey he floated do'\.\Ti the stream in a 
boat. Later visitors to the north followed Wasliing- 
ton's route up the Allegheny, then up French Creek to 
]\Ieadville and AYaterford. To this fact was due the 
settlement of Venango and Crawford Counties long 
before the Indians' possession of what is now Mercer 
County was disputed by the pioneers. 

]Many of the pioneers who ascended French Creek 
were attracted by the beautiful country in Crawford 
County, and were led to stop and make their homes 
— some at Cambridge Springs, where the later discovery 
of chalybeate water brought prosperity to the commu- 
nity; others in the region south where the valley 
broadens and the hills and valleys on either side are 

281 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

most inviting. Many who had resisted the temptation 
farther down the river yielded, at Saegertown, to the 
lm"e of the beautiful land. 

Meadville, too, has an unusual setting, the valley of 
Watson's Run, westward, speaking an eloquent mes- 
sage to those who have learned to hear nature's voice. 
To such travelers it will be almost impossible to resist 
the road from Meadville to Conneaut Lake, directly 
through the valley. 

Meadville is credited with the accidental discovery 
of the possibility of making paper from straw, and that 
in days long before straw paper was made elsewhere. 
A man who had put straw at the bottom of a barrel, with 
leached ashes above, noted that when the ashes were 
removed the straw was soft. Always ready to make 
experiments, he placed some of the straw in his mouth, 
chewed it, flattened it on a board, then left it to be 
dried in the sun. The result was so successful that a 
patent for the process was secured, and to the indus- 
tries of the town a mill for the manufacture of straw 
paper w\as soon added. The first shipment of the 
product, 300 reams, was sent to Pittsburgh by canal 
November, 1828. 

At one time Meadville was on navigable water, for 
Congress made many appropriations for the improve- 
ment of French Creek. Boats of twenty tons burden 
many times passed by the town, successors of the lumber 
rafts and flatboats of an earlier time. 

There enters French Creek at Meadville another 
stream, one more of the numerous Pennsylvania creeks 
with an Indian name beginning with C — the Cusse- 
wago. The valley is remarkably beautiful, but this 
was not what the Indian who named it remarked. The 
story goes that he saw a big black snake on the bank, 

282 



PITTSBURGH TO LAKE ERIE AND BACK 

with body distended, perhaps after a meal on a rabbit. 
" Kossawausge !" he said to his companion. The ex- 
clamation was more musical than its Enghsh meaning, 
"bigbeUy." 

Not far from the Cussewago, Cornelius Van Horn 
had the beginning of a trying experience with a later 
party of Indians. He was plowing in his field one day 
m May, 1791, when he was captured, taken to a hill 
above the town, then on to Conneaut Lake. On the 
shore of the lake he was compelled to sit by a tree, and 
then, with arms pinioned behind him, he was fastened 
to the tree by a deer-skin thong. After a time, in re- 
sponse to repeated tugging, the thong loosened a little. 
The Indian stretched it tight by pushing it at an angle 
up the trunk. After a while, when his exhausted cap- 
tors were asleep, it was easy for him to loosen the thong 
once more, enough at least to permit him to reach with 
his teeth a knife he had hidden in his cuff at the time 
of his capture. With this he managed to sever the 
thong that bound him to the tree, though he was of 
course miable to free his arms until he was once more 
among his friends at Meadville, who had despaired of 
seeing him again. 

The waters of French Creek bore a heavj^ traffic to 
Pittsburgh during the late twenties and the early 
thirties of the nineteenth century. On April 1, 1830, 
the Crawford Messenger said that in a distance of twenty- 
two miles on the river there were from ninety to one 
hundred flat-bottomed boats started or about to start 
for Pittsburgh, laden with produce. Each boat could 
carry from twenty to twenty-seven tons. 

More than thirty years later Meadville was the center 
of traffic of a different character. In 1866, when the 
Atlantic and Great Western Railway was building, the 

283 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

general offices were here. The plan was to connect 
New York and St. Louis by a series of railroads. The 
route from New Y^ork was to be to Salamanca, thence 
to Meadville, next to Cincinnati, and from there by the 
Ohio and Mississippi Railway. Meadville, as the outlet 
for the oil country, was thought to be the future great 
city of western Pennsylvania, and the logical center of 
activities on the great through road. 

One of the most famous visitors Meadville has had 
came to the town before the days of railroads. His 
name was John James Audubon, and he came by 
the turnpike road from Erie. Though far from famous 
then, he was making preparation for the fame that 
came when he completed his wonderful drawings of 
American birds. 

He was almost penniless, and found it necessary to 
earn his way by his brush. A companion was with him 
when he reached Meadville. Their joint capital was 
precisely one dollar and fifty cents. On this occasion 
the empty pocketbook was filled by the payments of 
eager customers who flocked to him for portraits at 
bargain prices, attracted by the drawings of birds and 
people which he showed them. A merchant agreed to 
let the artist have space in his store. In his journal 
Audubon told what followed: 

"Next day I entered the artist's room by crazy steps 
of the store-garret; four windows faced each other at 
right angles; in a corner was a cat nursing, among rags 
for a paper mill; hogsheads of oats, Dutch toys on the 
floor, a large drum, a bassoon, fur caps along the walls, 
a hammock and rolls of leather. Closing the extra win- 
dows with blankets, I procured a painter's light. 

"A young man sat to try my skill; his painting 
was approved; then the merchant; the room became 

284 



PITTSBURGH TO LAKE ERIE AND BACK 

crowded . . . The next day was spent as yesterday. 
Our pockets replenished, we walked to Pittsburgh in 
two days." 

Soon after leaving Meadville Audubon and his com- 
panion were in Mercer County, following the road that 
was built in 1816. The necessity for a road was im- 
pressed on the citizens of the county during the War of 
1812, when those fit for military service were subject 
to call from Erie. That call was sent out whenever an 
English invasion was thought to be imminent. On its 
receipt the farmers were expected to drop everything 
and rush to the north. One call came to Mercer during 
a church service. The pastor brought his sermon to 
a hasty conclusion, and within a few minutes the men 
were on the march. On another occasion farmers in 
the harvest field heard the insistent summons to arm 
themselves. 

A few years before the war, a curious visitor from 
England traveled through these valleys. His name was 
Thomas Ashe, and the tour in the United States, of 
which a part was through western Pennsylvania, was 
made in 1806. Among other things, he told of a man 
who built his house by a salt spring, unaware of the 
fact that this was a favorite gathering place for herds 
of buffalo. Once a drove of about three hundred came 
to the spring, and stopped to rub against the log house. 
In a few hours "they rubbed the house completely 
down, taking delight in turning the logs off with their 
horns. In the meantime, the proprietor of the house 
escaped with his family. 

Another writer of early days called the buffalo "wild 
oxen." He said the creatures were larger than oxen, 
"with a fleece like a sheep, of which several manufac- 
tures have been made little inferior to silk." 

285 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

On the way from Mercer to Pittsburgh two more 
picturesque streams are crossed, Slippery Rock Creek, 
near the border of Butler County, and the Conoquo- 
nessing, "for a long way straight," whose deep gorges 
and rocky bed make it notable. 

The beauty and fertility of the Conoquonessing Val- 
ley attracted George Rapp, when he was looking for a 
location for his community village. In 1805 he selected 
a site, built mills, began to raise sheep, and started to 
grow grapes. Because neither the sheep nor the grapes 
did well he sold the community possessions at Harmony, 
floated down the Ohio, ascended the W^abash and built 
a new town in Indiana. The climate there was not 
what he desired, so he returned to Pennsylvania, this 
time to Beaver County, where he chose a new location 
at Economy. 

The community experiment started at Harmony was 
doomed to failure, but unfortunately the town saw the 
birth of another idea that has not yet failed. For a 
time Joseph Smith was a resident here, and here he laid 
his plans for the Mormon church. Next he went to 
New York, and, after digging up the plates of the Book 
of Mormon, he was ready to play the game that has led 
so many people astray. 

A pleasanter story is told in connection with the 
neighboring town of Zclienople. The founder of the 
town, Deemer Basse, owner of ten thousand acres in 
the neighborhood, had a daughter Zclie, whom he loved 
so devotedly that he felt there was but one possible 
name for the new town. The great wooden castle built 
by him was burned in 1842. But the name remains, a 
memorial of fatherlv love. 



2 

-/. M 

X ~ 
5 z 





"A *- 

i? ft 
y. — 



ROUTE VII 

THROUGH THE OIL REGIONS AND SKIRT- 
ING THE FOREST COUNTRY 

A ROUND TRIP FROM PITTSBURGH 
ABOUT 331 MILES 

NO traveler who wishes to see historic sites should 
finally leave Pittsburgh without paying a visit 
to the Second Avenue Panhandle Crossing. 
There is nothing special in the surroundings to give 
inspiration, until it is recalled that on the stretch of 
track between this corner and the mouth of the tunnel 
through Grant Hill, nearer the Union Station, occurred 
one of the epoch-making incidents in the development 
of the railroads. 

Until long after the Civil War all trains, both passen- 
ger and freight, were equipped only with the clumsy, 
difficult, and slow chain hand-brakes. To bring a train 
to a stop within a reasonable distance was impossible; to 
prevent fearfid wear and tear on the rolling stock, the 
roadbed, and the passengers was equally impossible. 
Many railroad officials had ceased to hope for anything 
much better, until a young man named George West- 
inghouse overcame their reluctance and their disbe- 
lief by making an mianswerable test of the compressed 
air brake. 

For a long time the inventor, then at the beginning 
of his brilliant career, had been mulling over the prob- 
lem; he did not see why two freight trains, approaching 
each other on a single track, could not be stopped in 
time to prevent a collision in much less than a nule. 
Various plans occurred to him, but all were rejected. 
Then came the day when he read an article telling of 

287 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

the building of the great Mount Cenis tunnel by the 
agency of compressed air. At once he had a vision of 
the necessary apparatus. 

When he was ready for a test, he finally — and that 
"finally" hides a long chapter of discouragements — per- 
suaded Panhandle ofiicials to permit him to equip a 
train of five cars to be run from the Pittsburgh station 
to Steubenville. This was done in 1869. Attached to 
the rear of the train was a coach which carried the anxious 
inventor and the interested, but doubtful, oflacials. 

The engineer, who had been carefully instructed in 
the use of the new brakes, was startled when he emerged 
from the tunnel to see a teamster approaching the cross- 
ing at Second avenue. There was a station between the 
tunnel and the crossing, but no stop was to be made 
there; it was thought that precautions had been taken 
for the guarding of the tracks. The warning whistle 
was sounded, and the teamster urged on his horses. 
The frightened animals jerked the driver from his seat 
and threw him across the rails. The engineer acted 
instantly; he threw on the Westinghouse brakes with 
emergency speed, and with a tremendous jar the engine 
came to a stop within four feet of the prostrate 
man. Angry officials, whose bruises made them all 
the more ready to say "I told you so," and the young 
inventor, who thought that something had gone wrong, 
stepped to the roadway and walked hurriedly to the 
engine, only to learn that accident had afforded oppor- 
tunity for the best possible test of the air brakes. There 
was an instant change in the atmosphere. Men who 
had been doubtful before urged that the trip be given 
up; there was no need for further test, now that they 
had had such a tremendous object lesson of what the 
appliance could do. However, the journey was com- 

2S8 



THROUGH THE OIL REGIONS 

pleted to Steubenville, and the Westinghouse air brake 
that has helped to bring fame to Pittsburgh and 
Pennsylvania began its career. 

Years elapsed before all passenger trains were equip- 
ped with the new device, and more years before the law 
required that every freight train as well should pay 
tribute to the genius of Westinghouse. It was soon 
realized that the clamor for the improvement nmst be 
heeded, not only by railroads that ran express trains 
through populous coiuitry, but by lines operated in 
more sparsely settled and difficult territory, like some 
of that to be covered by the tour outlined in this chapter. 

The route begins in Allegheny County and continues 
through the heart of well populated Butler County, 
whose rambling streams, sightly hills and fertile farms 
combine to provide a series of delightful prospects all 
the way from Cooperstown on the plateau high above 
Glade Run to the approacli to the Allegheny River and 
the northeastern border. 

It is about twelve miles from Cooperstown to Butler, 
the county seat, whose site was a part of the seventy- 
thousand-acre tract of land within the present bounds 
of the county once owned by Robert Morris. In 1802, 
when plans for the town were first made, investors were 
told that "the situation is beautiful, being on an emi- 
nence which descends in all directions." It was added 
that "the ridges, all pointing into the little valley, will 
be convenient for roads from every direction. " A visi- 
tor in these first days spoke of the howling wilderness 
that surrounded the embryo city, though he was care- 
ful to except "a few scattered settlements as far re- 
moved from each other as the kraals in the neighbor- 
hood of the Cape of Good Hope." The present-day 
visitor to bustling Butler and its surroundings finds 
19 289 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

difficulty in realizing that this description could have 
been true only a little more than a century ago. 

Less than half way between Butler and Franklin, in 
Venango County, the road crosses Slippery Rock Creek, 
memorable in connection with an incident of the days 
before the Indians retired from the country drained by 
the creek. Captain Samuel Brady, with a number of 
companions, was surprised by savages who pursued 
him to the banks of the creek, where they thought they 
would surely take him; they knew that the stream at 
that point was quite deep, and the banks were too steep 
for crossing. But Brady did not hesitate; he jumped, 
and, to the astonishment of the Indians, succeeded in 
reaching the opposite bank in safety. "Brady make 
good jump!" the leading Indian exclaimed in amaze- 
ment, and so lost his chance to fire on the retreating 
man, who was zig-zagging in a fashion that confused 
those who sought his life. It was later found that he 
had jumped twenty-three feet, and that the water at 
that place was twenty feet deep. 

Not far from the southern line of Venango County, 
but farther to the eastward, on the Allegheny River, the 
Indians had a favorite gathering place, and the memo- 
rial of their presence is still there — a great rock in the 
river once covered with inscriptions. Schoolcraft's 
classic work on the American Indian, published in 1853, 
gave a fine engraving and a full description of the rock: 

"A prominent point of rock, around which the river 
deflects, rendering this point a very conspicuous object. 
The rock, which has been lodged there in some geological 
convulsion, is a species of hard sandstone about twenty 
feet in length by fourteen in breadth. It has an incli- 
nation to the horizon of about fifty degrees. During 
freshets it is nearly overflowed. The inscription is made 
upon the inclined face of the rock. The present inhabi- 
290 




IN VKNANGO COUNTY 
I'liotd by State Hitihway DcpartnuTit 




INLOADIM: I><>(:s FOK the mill, lOltKST COUNTY 
I'lintd l>y Stat.- Dcpartiii.iit of Kiircj,try 




LITTLK HUOKEX.STltAW (JKKEK, W AiiUKX (or.NTV 
IMiotii liy State Ilijrliuay Depart incnl. 




ALLECMKNV KIXKH, WAKUKN 
I'licto l>y State nepartineiit of Foiestry 



THROUGH THE OIL REGIONS 

tants of the country call it the 'Indian God.' It is only 
in low stages of water that it can be examined. 
The inscription itself appears distinctly to record, in 
symbols, the triumphs of hunting and war. " 

In 1742, when Celeron de Bienville was burying his 
leaden plates, he wrote in his journal that he buried one 
of these "on the north bank of the Ohio (Allegheny) 
opposite a bald mountain and near a large stone on 
which are many figures rudely engraved. " 

Many years ago there was a project to remove this 
curiosity to Franklin, but fortunately it is still to be 
seen in the original location, though the figures have 
been almost entirely obliterated. 

De Bienville buried another plate at the fort near 
the mouth of French Creek, not far from the site of 
Franklin. Washington visited this fort in December, 
1753. The next year Captain Joncaire, the commander, 
deciding to abandon the post, went down the Alle- 
gheny to Fort du Quesne, his one thousand soldiers 
and eighteen cannon being carried in sixty batteaux and 
three hundred canoes. Later they returned, but left 
again in 1759. 

A cunning Indian stratagem succeeded in driving out 
the English in 17G3. The Indians had been accustomed 
to playing football near the fort. When the ball went 
over the stockade they would be permitted to enter in 
search of it. On the day they planned to take the fort, 
a larger number than usual gathered to play. After a 
time the ball fell within the enclosure. The gate was 
opened for those who went after it, and the Indians 
rushed in, slew the garrison, and burned the fort. A 
few prisoners were taken, among them a woman who 
later told the story. 

On the site of Franklin, troops from Fort Pitt erected 

291 



SEEING PENNSYLVx\NIA 

Fort Franklin in 1787. This fort proved a great pro- 
tection to the pioneer settlers. 

The pioneers of the country learned at least one help- 
ful lesson from the Indians — the virtue of what was 
called Seneca Oil. This knowledge later enabled them 
to start an industry that made the county famous, as 
well as a number of surrounding counties, including 
Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Clarion, Forest, Elk, Warren, 
McKean, and Tioga. 

The Seneca oil was gathered from the creeks. A local 
paper of 1842 spoke of "the Seneca oil from the oil 
springs or oil creeks, used by the Seneca Indians as an 
unguent, and in their religious worship. It is almost as 
celebrated as the naphtha of the Caspian Sea. With 
it the Senecas mixed their war-paint, which gave them 
a hideous, glistening appearance, and added great 
permanency to the paint as it rendered it impervious 
to water." 

The first serious attempt by white men to use the 
Seneca oil was made by a ferryman on French Creek. 
Discovering a spring from which the oil issued, he built 
a dam around it. When water was low, in the summer- 
time, he would collect two or three quarts for use during 
the next year. Other settlers collected oil from Oil 
Creek, after building dams. Above a dam the oil would 
gather to a depth of two inches. This would be soaked 
into a blanket, and the blanket would be wrung into a 
barrel. Some of the oil thus secured was peddled over 
the surrounding country, at twenty-five cents a gill, as 
a medicine of rare value. 

The first great oil well was dug just north of Titus- 

ville, over the line in Crawford County. Colonel E. L. 

Drake, who came to Titusville in 1857, was responsible 

for the well, and he thus became the real pioneer of the 

292 



THROUGH THE OIL REGIONS 

oil industry. When he became a bankrupt a grateful 
state voted to him and to his wife, should she survive 
him, a pension of fifteen hundred dollars a year. 

The second great well, at Franldin, was so productive 
that the oil taken from it was worth two thousand dol- 
lars a day. Tidings of the new El Dorado flashed all 
over the country. By 18G4 there was a rush of fortune 
hunters. " The tide of emigration that was poured upon 
the golden shores of California in 1849 was but a rip- 
pling of the waters, compared with the vast billows that 
rolled over the oil region of northwest Pennsylvania." 
In 1865, when Venango County was the only oil pro- 
ducer, thirteen thousand barrels a day were shipped. In 
1866 it was reported at Franklin, "An incredible amount 
of business is transacted at the Register's office, reach- 
ing $1,000,000 a day in the transfer of leases alone. " 

Dm-ing the height of the excitement, C. V. Culver 
started a bank in Franklin and made plans for a rail- 
road and a new town. The town was to be called Reno, 
and it was to be the great metropolis of the oil region. 
"There is not a particle of doubt of the success of the 
plan," said the glowing prospectus printed in 1866. But 
the bank failed, and the plan came to nothing. The 
little town of Reno, on the Allegheny, halfway between 
Franklin and Oil City, is a reminder of the collapse. 

One who was financially involved in this failure was 
philosophical enough to write: 

"I stood beneath the hollow tree. 
The blast it hollow blew; 
I thought upon the hollow world 

And all its hollow crew. 
Ambition and its hollow schemes. 

The hollow hopes to follow. 
Imagination's hollow dreams. 
All hollow, hollow, hollow." 

293 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Oil City had its part in the great boom. A newspaper 
man who came in 1804 to study the situation, wrote a 
humorous description of what he saw that is appreciated 
by no one more than by the present residents of the 
busthng city on the Allegheny : 

"Whew! what smells so? Nothing but the gaseous 
wealth of the oily region. But pigs, mud, no sidewalks! 
Ah, but you are on the river bank yet. Business can 
not afford to wash the ways down which oil barrels run 
nor to scrub their leaky sides. Wait until you reach the 
main thoroughfare, the grand promenade, the fashion- 
able street of the place. I waited. That is, I walked 
between walls and oil yards, barns and pens, along the 
slipi)ery ways, keeping my bearings as I could, and aim- 
ing for the Petroleum House first. I found the main 
street, the promenade, the leading thoroughfare. It 
was bare of trotting buggies. It was bare of handsome 
carriages. It was not at all dusty. Upon one side rose 
a ledge of shale rocks, crowned on top with the primeval 
forest. At its immediate foot ran the street. No, it 
didn't run. It couldn't run. Neither could it stand 
still. It was just too thick for water, and wholly too 
thin for land. Horses dragging heavy teams with a few 
barrels of oil sank below this scum and tugged on. 
Horsemen, booted to the middle, floundered this way 
and that. The narrowest plank walk filled with hurrying 
men, muddy and eager, pushed by. A slip of a team 
horse, and his effort at recovery, sent the li(|uid, oily, 
earthy mixture of the street in showers among the 
walkers. Everybody was used to it. " 

Andrew Carnegie had his share in the excitement of 
the day. In 1862 he bought a farm on Oil Creek, above 
Oil City, and for this he paid forty thousand dollars. 
The value rose to five millions, judged by the sale of 
shares on the market. In a single year one million dol- 
lars in dividends was paid. 

Midway between Oil Creek and Titusville was Petro- 
294 



THROUGH THE OIL REGIONS 

leum Center, another of the boom towns. At one time 
it hiid a population of tliree thousand, but to-day it is 
not on the map. An investor who sought the town in 
February, 1865, told of his experience in a letter charac- 
terized by the humor shown by so many who came this 
way. lie began by saying he would not advise the 
pleasure seeker to select the route from Oil City to Pe- 
troleum Center, and continued: 

"Let him go through the Dismal Swamp on a flat 
boat, anywhere rather than here, for anywhere else he 
will find fewer discomforts than in the dozen miles 
which separate this place from the mouth of Oil Creek. 
Without doubt it is a journey full of novelty, and wholly 
bereft of beauty. Majestic blufl's rise upon either side, 
almost shutting out the sky and world. In these and 
the narrow, ragged ribbon of heaven overhead, are 
much to awaken admiration. But those aesthetic qual- 
ities will in no wise compensate for being jolted twelve 
miles in a lumber wagon, during which operation the 
stream has to be crossed some half dozen times, either 
by swimming the horses or venturing them on ice 
that seems to possess anything but strength. . . . 
It is along the creek that the richest part of the oil 
region lies. " 

The route suggested in this chapter, after leaving Oil 
Creek, passes through Cornplanter township where — 
some five miles from the point where Pit Hole Creek 
joins the Allegheny — Pit Hole City sprang into being 
almost over night. In May, 18G5, a gushing oil well 
was brought in. In September there were fifteen thou- 
sand people in the town. "Thither thousands daily 
rushed. On every train they came to the land of der- 
ricks. From the railroad they scattered on rickety 
horses, or rickety coaches on rickety roads in search of 
some spot where the 'grease' should shower upon them 
untold millions. " 

295 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

At the heiglit of the excitement the farm on which the 
first well was struck sold for $1,G00,000. But after a 
time the basin under the new location was exhausted, 
and the buildings were removed. 

There were those who prophesied the exliaustion of 
oil in the country, but they declared that as oil jjroduc- 
tion decreased the flow of gas would increase, since the 
shallower the deposits of oil the more favorable would 
be the conditions for the rapid distillation of gas. 

The oil product continued to increase until 1891. 
Seventeen years later there was flowing from the Penn- 
sylvania field less than one-third of the amount pro- 
duced during the banner year. As the wells failed, 
pumping was resorted to. It was found to be profitable 
to pump for one-eighth of a barrel a day. But, accord- 
ing to the proj)hecy, the failure of the oil saw a propor- 
tionate increase in gas production in much of the old 
oil territory. 

Tionesta, on the Allegheny in Forest Coimty, shared 
in the oil excitement, but not to such an extent as Venan- 
go County towais. Here speculation was a little better 
controlled, though there were many instances of rapid 
advance in prices. One tract of thirty acres sold for 
forty thousand dollars; later one-fourth of this tract 
brought forty-five thousand dollars. 

David Zeisberger left in his diary an account of the 
oil springs on the banks of the Allegheny from which 
the Indians gathered rheiunatism and toothache medi- 
cine. His observations were made in 1707, at a 
point four miles below Tionesta. At this place, which 
the Indians called Gosgoschunk, he labored for some 
time with the natives. On the walls of the Historical 
Society of Pennsylvania there is a painting represent- 
ing the devoted missionary preaching to the people, of 

296 



THROUGH THE OIL REGIONS 

whom he wrote, "I have never found such heathen." 
In 1769 he removed to Lawunukliannock, "the meeting 
of the waters," wherellickoryCreek enters theAHegheny. 

Not far from Lawunukliannock the deer and the bear 
had a favorite crossing place. In winter wolves were 
often seen to run the deer on the ice and then kill them. 
Zeisberger told of seeing two thousand deer killed by 
the Indians while he was in the neighborhood. 

The waters about Tionesta were once freighted with 
great rafts. Tionesta Creek, especially, brought down 
to the Allegheny vast quantities of timber. Sawmills 
were erected near the town as early as 1803. 

Tionesta Creek rises in Warren County, and dew onr 
that county for many of the rafts it floated. Warren 
had remarkable forests of pine. Brokenstraw Creek, 
Conewango Creek, and Kjnzua Creek were also famous 
lumbering streams. On them small rafts were floated 
to the Allegheny, and these were then built into larger 
rafts, from 250 to 300 feet long and from 60 to 70 feet 
wide, for floating down the river to Pittsburgh and 
Cincinnati. 

Near the mouth of the Brokenstraw the road passes 
through Irvineton, a town which the builder. Dr. William 
Irvine of Philadelphia, tried to name Cornplanter, in 
honor of the Indian cliief who was the friend of all the 
white settlers in that section. Believing that a railroad 
would come to the valley, Irvine proposed to be ready. 
Among other stone buildings he erected the Corn- 
planter Hotel, *'in a style that would do honor to 
Philadelphia," a wandering writer of the day said. 
He built stores, bridged the creek, and erected a mill. 
But his plans for the town miscarried. 

At the mouth of the Conewango, near the site of W^ar- 
ren, the county seat, Celeron de Bienville planted one 

297 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

of his six leaden plates. Watchful Indians promptly 
dug this up as soon as he departed. Warren is a thriv- 
ing town, advantageously located. It has never been 
lacking in proper local pride. As long ago as March 
20, 1849, the editor of the town paper said: 

"Two steamers in to-day; . . . Oh, how we 
flourish. This is a great town. . . . Think of it! 
Two steamers in one day; two acres of rafts lying in the 
eddy, and others passing every moment. Crowds of 
people thronging the streets and room for more. " 

One of Warren's reasons for self-gratulation was the 
provision made in 1861 by the will of Henry R. Rouse, 
oil operator, for the construction of roads and bridges. 
The remarkable thing about this will is that it was 
drawn during the few hours of intense suffering that 
followed an explosion of gas in one of his own wells. 
Those who use the county's roads — as well as the poor 
to whom he left another large portion of his fortune — 
have had reason to be thankful for this man who felt 
that his money should remain in the county where he 
had gained it. 

From Warren the road, turning southeast, reaches 
the Tionesta and follows the creek for a few miles, 
then crosses once more into Forest County, not far 
from the entrance into the creek of the small parallel 
runs called Blue Sheriff and White Sheriff. The man 
who named the little streams was something of a humor- 
ist. In company with the sheriff of Forest County and 
the sheriff of W^arren County, he was on a surveying ex- 
pedition. The creeks were unnamed, and names were de- 
sired. It so happened that one sheriff wore a blue suit 
that day, while the other wore a light summer suit. What 
could be easier? The waters were christened forthwith. 

There is another water course in the county called 
298 




TFIK STAiJT Ml- A hOKI-.sl HKI. 
Phciti. \,y State Dfixirtinciit nf l'"(ir<'st i\- 




i'Im: rocks, ukt\vf;?;.\ ukkch chkkk and i{h:\o\u 
I'hoto by State Department of Forestry 



THROUGH THE OIL REGIONS 

Jug Handle. The name was suggested when a pioneer 
was drinking from a jug, which fell to the ground, leav- 
ing the handle only in his fingers. 

It is characteristic of the county that the streams 
flow through gorges, and that they have on their banks 
hills ranging from five hundred to eight hundred feet 
high. On the south these hills slope gradually, but on 
the north they are quite steep. 

One of the highest points in the county is at Marien- 
ville, once the county seat, a town passed on the high- 
way just before crossing the line into Clarion County. 
This high point is on Big Level Ridge, a peculiar con- 
tinuous high summit that stretches from Clearfield 
County, across Jefferson and Forest, and into McKean 
County. At Marienville this reaches up 1728 feet. 

It is fortunate that a railroad runs through this beau- 
tiful country between Marienville and Clarion, a coun- 
try of hills and forests and valleys where — 

"The rounded world is fair to see, 
Nine times folded in mystery : 
Though baffled seers cannot impart 
The secret of the laboring heart. 
Throb thine with Nature's throbbing breast, 
And all is clear from east to west. 
Spirit that lurks each form within 
Beckons to spirit of its kin; 
Self-kindled every atom glows 
And hints the future which it owes. "^ 

Bold knobs and undulating uplands are character- 
istic of the county. The average elevation is about 
thirteen hundred feet. Once the hills and valleys were 
covered with primeval forests of pine, hemlock, and 
oak, but forest fires and careless lumbering have de- 
mided many of the townships of the best timber. 

' EmeraoQ. 

299 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

The Clarion River cuts diagonally across the county 
and meets the Allegheny near the western border after 
a strangely tortuous course whose beginning is at Cal- 
lensburg. This town is on a height above the stream, 
overlooking both Clarion and Licking Creeks. The 
latter stream empties into the river squarely against 
the current. 

A few miles below, at Alum Rock, another stream 
enters the Clarion from a glen of wild beauty cut from 
the solid rock. The cliffs, almost perpendicular, are 
covered with foliage. Scattered here and there are 
great boulders against which, especially in flood times, 
the little creek dashes in its passage to the river. 

Foxburg, near the junction of the Clarion and the 
Allegheny, has one of the most advantageous situa- 
tions in the state, from a scenic point of view. From 
above the town the view of wooded heights and the 
deep gorges of both rivers is most effective. One visi- 
tor insists that "the mountain grandeur almost equals 
the scenery of Ejttanning Point, with the additional 
charm of water scenery," 

Near Foxburg are some of the best forest lands left 
in the state. There are eight thousand acres of the 
finest primeval timber. The richest landscape in the 
county is spread out before those who go to the soutli- 
western corner, where the Allegheny doubles on itself, 
making a great horseshoe bend, the distance across 
the isthmus being less than a mile, while the distance 
around by water is eight miles. The best view is from 
the heights, near the junction of the East Brady and 
Phillipsburg Roads, in what is known as "the neck." 
This bend was the scene of a battle with the Indians 
when the savages were defeated. 

Back now to Clarion, the county seat. The town is 

300 



THROUGH THE OIL REGIONS 

built on a level stretch of a turnpike which was fre- 
quently used in early days as a racecourse. From points 
of vantage in and near the town the prospect of river 
and valley is such as to make one wish to linger. But 
the pleasant scenes are not gone when Clarion is left 
behind. Strattonville, two miles distant, is built on a 
ridge, and here also the reputation of the road for 
beauty is maintained, 

^\J1 the way from Clarion, past Strattonville, through 
Jefferson County, to Du Bois, where the route outlined 
for this chapter turns aside to the south, the highway 
followed is that of the Oil City route, famed for its long- 
distance views from the heights. This was originally 
known as the Susquehanna and Waterford Turnpike, 
and it follows much the same route as the Old State 
Road to Erie, laid out in 1796, which was used in the 
transport of troops from Franklin County to Erie dur- 
ing the War of 1812. The later road was authorized in 
1812, incorporated in 1817, and completed in 1822. Un- 
til the days of the railroad this artery of travel always 
did a rushing business. Stage coaches, conestogas and 
herds of cattle followed one another in quick succession. 
Emigrants found it a link in the shortest route between 
Philadelphia and the West, and in the decade 1840 and 
1850 countless prairie schooners passed this way. Fre- 
quently there were from fifteen to twenty-five of these 
in a train, each party having its own leader and guides. 

Until this great improvement was completed, those 
who were compelled to pass through this region felt like 
voicing some such protest as that of one pioneer: 

"How can I e'er the road describe? 
'Twould take a far more skillful scribe 
Than I; so I will silent be. 
Lest some doubt my veracity. 

301 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

"Enough that 'twas most horrid bad 
Than ever I experienced had. 
And yet so hght our sufferings were 
That to complain would not be fair. 

"For 'twas as good a road, I see, 
As such a road could ever be! 
So we take courage and rejoice 
Because the weather was most choice. " 

There is nothing like a sense of humor to lighten the 
burdens of the road, even burdens like those of the pio- 
neer of 1797 who cleared from the primeval forest a farm 
on what was to be the site of the turnpike, west of Water- 
ford. His nearest neighbor to the east was at Curwens- 
ville, Clearfield County, thirty -three miles away. When 
he was out of provisions he was accustomed to go to 
Pittsburgh for them. Once he packed sixty pounds of 
flour on his back all the way, though more often he 
used the canoe to transport supplies up the Allegheny 
and the Red Bank. 

To many who pass through this region of rugged hills, 
with the evidence everywhere that here once was the 
country of magnificent forests and that the rich vegeta- 
tion of ages long past underlaid the forests and the hills 
with rich deposits of coal, the story set down by those 
who have given their lives to baring the secrets of the 
formation of these hills and rocks and coal beds is 
fascinating. How did the rocky ridges come to be as 
they are.-* How was the coal formed.'^ Why is the coal 
here bituminous instead of anthracite.'^ 

However geologists may differ in their theories, these 
theories are alike appealing to the lovers of Nature and 
of Him who made the hills, "rock ribbed and ancient 
as the sun," who placed the coal and the oil and the 
gas where they would supply the needs of His people 
302 



THROUGH THE OIL REGIONS 

of yesterday, to-day, and of the generations to come. 
The story has never been more appeahngly told than 
in the popular presentation made by Henry M. Alden 
in Harper's Magazine for September, 1863: 

"Once America was a long narrow island, reaching 
from Nova Scotia to the far west; neither Alleghenies 
nor Rocky Mountains as yet existed, but a great ocean 
spread away to the north, and another to the south. 
Gradually, on either side, by the action of the waters, 
vast deposits of stratified rock were formed, which, 
accumulating, were at length raised to the surface at 
numerous points, forming low, marshy islands. These 
became covered with a luxuriant vegetation, under con- 
ditions of atmosphere peculiarly favorable to such 
growth; generations of this rapid growth quickly suc- 
ceeded each other, the decay of each forming the basis 
of that which followed. For ages this process went on; 
and when the Alleghenies were afterward upheaved in 
successive ranges to the southward, the reader can 
easily imagine the great disturbance, the distortion 
and the dislocation which these stratified deposits must 
have undergone. He will remember, too, that these 
ridges, thus suddenly upheaved, must have imprisoned 
many a large, inlying body of water, which, in propor- 
tion to the resistance offered, would the more insist- 
ently force various outlets to the open seas beyond, and 
in its way out would, with its tumultuous current, tear 
up the already loosened strata — if possible sweeping 
these entirely away, but otherwise leaving them be- 
hind in confused heaps. The ranges of the Alleghenies 
increase in height as we proceed southward, till in North 
Carolina they rise more than six thousand feet above 
the level of the sea. The more southern ranges, being 
later in their upheaval, and therefore meeting with 
greater resistance from the continually hardening crust 
of the earth, were for this reason thro'^n up to a great 
height, power in all cases being measured by resist- 
ance. These ranges, therefore, offered a proportionally 

303 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

greater resistance to the escape of the waters which they 
enclosed; hence the greater violence of the escaping 
waters, which accounts for the fact that, for the most 
part, the coal measures of the south have been swept 
away. In regions where there was no violent action of 
water at all, as in western Pennsylvania, we have the 
soft bituminous coal, the hydrogen of which has never 
been permitted to escape; and the reason that we have 
no bituminous coal in eastern Pennsylvania, as a general 
thing, is this: The external disturbances which affected 
the strata, though insufficient to sweep them away, yet 
so effectually exposed them to the air that the soft coal 
became in time hardened to anthracite. " 

Brookville in the midst of the soft coal country, has 
long been a center of traffic both by land and water. 
Its situation on the turnpike was a factor that entered 
into the calculations of those who kept store here as 
early as 1840. Merchants who ordered their goods 
from Philadelphia counted on the service of a conestoga 
freight line that ran through from the city twice each 
year, Shippensville in Clarion County being the end 
of the route. When they had to go to Philadelphia 
themselves, it was necessary to allow two days and a 
half for the trip on the "limited mail coach" to Lewis- 
town, and one day and a half more, by canal and rail- 
road, to complete the journey. 

One of the obstacles that delayed traffic in those days, 
and hence caused much displeasure, was precisely the 
feature that to-day is most appreciated in the landscape 
— the forests. A writer of 1830 gave expression to the 
common idea when he said, "The scenery around the 
town would be fine were it not that all the hills, except 
at the north side, are still clothed by the virginal for- 
ests of pine." 

On<^ reason for the desire to see the forests disappear 

304 



THROUGH THE OIL REGIONS 

was that the falling trees and branches impeded com- 
munication by land. An extreme example of the diffi- 
culty was recorded when the builders of the turnpike 
approached Reynoldsville, east of Brookville. Trees 
were found lying about everywhere. The limbs had 
completely rotted away and the trunks had nearly dis- 
appeared. "They were so thick that it was almost 
impossible to go a couple of rods without coming across 
one or more." The trunks were so rotten they would 
not bear a man's weight. It was thought that they had 
been blown down by some storm a century or two 
before, for a forest of gigantic trees was growing above 
the prostrate trunks. 

The first rafts from these great forests of white and 
yellow pine, hemlock and oak, were started for Pitts- 
burgh on Sandy Lick which enters Red Bank Creek at 
Brookville. The industry grew rapidly, and was at 
its height between 1850 and 1860. At this period, dur- 
ing the spring freshets, it is said that one raft would not 
be out of sight before another appeared around the bend 
east of the town. Some immense timbers were brought 
from the forests for these rafts. The largest, probably, 
was a pine log fifty feet long from a tree one hundred 
and twenty-five feet tall. Eight oxen had all they could 
do to take it from the spot where it was cut to Sandy 
Lick. There it was found to be too large for a raft, and 
it was sent down the river by itself. A year was re- 
quired for the journey to Pittsburgh, since it was impos- 
sible for a lumberman to accompany it for a through 
journey; the method adopted was for a passing rafts- 
man to take it on a part of the way, then leave it for 
some one else. 

A second huge log, seventy-five feet long, was made 
into a canoe. This was hauled to Sandy Lick by a yoke 

20 305 



SP:EING PENNSYLVANIA 

of oxen and was then taken to McKees Rocks with a 
cargo of venison and bears' meat. For many years 
gardeners nsed it to carry vegetables to Pittsburgh. 

At Reynoldsville the turnpike is left behind. But 
what the road to Punxsutawney lacks in perfection is 
made up in scenery, since it leads through a section 
that shows well the character of the rugged country. 
Near the beginning of the road is an elevation which 
looks down on the deep valley of Sandy Lick and over 
toward the valley of Red Bank. These valleys of 
Jefferson County are from three hundred to five hun- 
dred feet deep. In many places the streams are in 
V-shaped canyons, sometimes with precipitous walls on 
both banks, again with a slope on one bank, or still 
again with slopes on both banks. While there are no 
mountain ridges, there are summits as high as from 
sixteen hundred to eighteen hundred feet. 

Mahoning Creek — the Mohulbucteetau of the In- 
dians, (meaning "where canoe is abandoned"), at 
Punxsutawney, is a delightful mountain stream on 
whose banks are many points of great interest. One of 
these is not far from the to^^l. On the slope of a hill 
above the creek are numerous large sandstone boulders, 
remarkable not merely for their size but for the strange 
kettle-shaped holes in them, evidently the work of men. 
One of the rocks contains twenty such holes. 

Punxsutawney, "the town of the Ponkis" (or gnats), 
has been spelled in numberless ways. Zeisberger called 
the place Ponksutenik. Others wrote the word Punck- 
sotownay. Pukeisheno was still another form. 

At Punxsutawney are the headquarters of one of the 

four troops of the famous Pennsylvania Mounted 

Police, headquarters for the other three troops being at 

Greensburg, Reading, and Wyoming. Every Penn- 

30ti 



THROUGH THE OIL REGIONS 

sylvanian should know and he proud of the story of 
this splendid body of men, for they have attracted the 
attention of leaders in many otlier states, as well as of 
some who live across the sea. 

The story goes hack to 1902, the year of the anthra- 
cite coal strike. President Roosevelt by timely inter- 
vention put an end to the struggle that lasted more; 
than four months, caused endless confusion, and cost 
perhaps $100,000,000. 

The Anthracite Strike Commission, the hody ap- 
pointed by the President to bring peace, strongly 
recommended the organization of the State Police, 
"or a proper executive body to enforce the laws with 
impartial might," in a territory where "the large 
rural population, the mountainous region, the indus- 
trial centers, and foreign immigration" made such a 
force necessary.^ 

In 1903 Governor Pennypacker recommended the 
organization of the State Police, and in 1905 he signed 
the act for the creation of that body whose task it 
should be to prevent crimes and secure the punishment 
of criminals in the rural districts of the state. 

Captain John C. Groome, Commander of Philadel- 
phia's First City Troop, was made Superintendent, and 
to him was committed the preparation for and the or- 
ganization of the State Constabulary. The appoint- 
ment was justified by his performances, and the per- 
formances have been so heartily api)roved that Colonel 
Groome, as he is now known, was made head of the 
military police in that part of France occupied by 
American armies during the recent war. 

Before making definite plans for his new work, 
Colonel Groome wenf to Tn^land to study the Royal 

^ "Jiuitice tx) All," by Katharine Mayo. 

307 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Irish Constabulary. Ireland is about the same in size 
as Pennsylvania, but ten thousand constables are em- 
ployed there, while the Pennsylvania act called for 
only two hundred and twenty-eight men. 

When preliminaries had been concluded, and the 
men honored by appointment had been enrolled, Col- 
onel Groome made known to them his instructions, in 
part as follows: 

"It is possible for a man to be a gentleman as well as 
a policeman. 

"I expect you to treat elderly persons, women and 
children at all times with the greatest consideration. 

"When once you start after a man, you must (jet him. 

"In making an arrest you may use no force beyond 
the uniform necessity. 

"One State policeman should be able to handle one 
hundred foreigners. " 

The constabulary began work in 1906, and nothing 
better can be said of them than that they have measured 
up to the program the commander laid down for them. 

Miss Mayo, the Bos well of the body, who, in a fas- 
cinating manner, has written of their prowess in a 
series of difficult though typical cases, has given a 
brief yet suggestive summary of their activities: 

"Here they picked up a country store robber; there a 
stabber of a night watchman; again n molester of women ; 
a carrier of concealed weapons; a farm thief; a setter of 
forest fires, and always a little harvest of killers of song 
birds. . . . Meantime they were dealing constantly 
with the unassimilated foreign element, teaching it by 
small but repeated object lessons that a new gospel was 
abroad in the land. " 

What a wonderful thing it would have been if Penn- 
sylvania had possessed such a body when the Molly 
Maguires were abroad in the anthracite region! 

308 



THROUGH THE OIL REGIONS 

Travelers on the highways should, if possible, visit the 
barracks at one of the troop headquarters, and should 
watch for the brawiiy men, who usually ride alone, 
each with his horse, his comrade. They will be known 
by their gentlemanly bearing, their look of determina- 
tion, and the uniform — a military tunic and riding 
trousers of dark gray whipcord, black pigskin puttees, 
black boots, nickel strap spurs, reinforced helmet with 
black leather strap, and black horsehide gauntlets. 

From the Punxsutawney headquarters the members 
of the constabulary are able to go quickly to any danger 
point in western Pennsylvania. Frequently they ride 
toward Pittsburgh, taking the route across the north- 
west corner of Indiana County and through the heart 
of Armstrong County as followed in this chapter. 

There is water along this road and there are hills — 
two things that help to make a coimtry interesting. The 
Little Mahoning stretches across the highway in In- 
diana County, and in Armstrong County the traveler 
skirts a tributar}- of the Allegheny all the way to Kit- 
tanning, then follows the river which the Indians called 
the Ohio to the Kiskiminetas, at the southwest border 
of the county, and from there on to Pittsburgh. 

Ivittanning, beautiful for situation, is on the spot 
where stood the Indian village of that name, the ter- 
minus of the Kittanning Path over the mountains from 
Black Log Valle;\' and Standing Stone (now Hunting- 
don). Another Indian path led to Le Ba-uf from Pine 
Creek, ten miles north of Kittanning. 

The Indian town was destroyed in 175C, when three 
hundred and seven men marched across the mountain 
from Fort Shirley, in what is now Huntingdon County, 
to release eleven prisoners held by the Indians. The 
savages were surprised at a dance, and the town was 

309 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

destroyed. Colonel Armstrong, who had charge of the 
rescuing party, was highly commended for his heroism 
and ability in leading his men through a hostile county, 
and for the triumphant close of the expedition. The 
Indians' operations were much hampered by the burning 
of the village, for from this base operations had been 
conducted against the frontier during the French and 
Indian War. 

Twelve years later, when the Fort Stanwix treaty 
transferred to Pennsylvania the Susquehanna lands, 
Kittanning was a point named on the western boun- 
dary. The line led from here to Canoe Place, at the 
source of the West Branch of the Susquehanna. 

One of the red letter occasions in the history of the 
Kittanning of the early nineteenth century was the 
day in 1827 when the first steamer ascended the river 
from Pittsburgh. "Against the rapid current she 
steamed it majestically at the rate of four miles an hour," 
read one contemporary account. "She was a beautiful 
boat of fifty tons, " the record concluded. 

The coming of a steamer during the next year called 
out even greater eloquence: 

"A sound was heard down the river, 'an unco sugh,* 
as Burns says, which was soon recognized to be the puff- 
ing of a steamboat. The town was immediately in a 
buzz. All looked to catch a glimpse of the icater-ivalker, 
as she came around the bend below the town. Pres- 
ently the bright glow of the furnaces burst upon the 
sight; the report of the swivel resounded among the hills 
and the boat rushed through the yielding current amid 
the cheers of the people and was safely moored alongside 
the wharf. She proved to be the Pittsburgh and Wheel- 
ing Packet, of one hundred tons, owned by the Society 
of Harmonists at Economy — a beautiful vessel, very 
handsomely furnished with two decks. " 
310 



THROUGH THE OIL REGIONS 

Nearly fifty years later, in 1876, Dom Pedro went 
up the valley, though he went by train instead of by 
steamer. He was then returning from California, where 
he had seen the wonders of that state; but he declared 
that Allegheny Valley was one of the finest he had 
ever passed through. 

Almost all the way from Kittanning to the Kiskimin- 
etas the river flows through a deep, rocky ravine, and 
is remarkable for rugged scenery, as is the Ejskiminetas, 
the stream which guided the Pennsylvania canal on its 
way to the Allegheny and to Pittsburgh. 

These deep gorges in the Allegheny have caused many 
destructive ice jams. One of the worst of these occurred 
in the winter of 1837 and 1838. A jam that formed 
below Kittanning backed up the water and the flats 
below the town were covered. The people escaped to 
the hills, but in half an hour, relieved by the breaking 
of the jam, they returned to their homes. 

At that period there were twenty-four salt wells in 
Armstrong County, most of them along the Allegheny 
and the Kiskiminetas. During one year the product 
was 65,500 barrels, all secured from wells from five 
hundred to six hundred and fifty feet deep. The wells 
were three inches in diameter to a depth of two hundred 
feet, then two inches. The cost of drilling was two dol- 
lars a foot for the first five hundred feet, and three dol- 
lars from that point. Yet the cost of a barrel was only 
two dollars and twelve cents. 

An ingenious method was adopted to prevent fresh 
water from mingling with the salt water in the well. A 
bag of flaxseed was attached to a copper tube, and this 
was dropped into a well until the bag reached the salt 
water. The flaxseed would swell, the hole around the 

311 



S E KING r K N N S Y L\ A Nl A 

tube Avoiild ho IiIUhI, ami I ho fivsli water above could 
not ivaoli I ho salt walor hi'low. 

Nol many inilos bolow I ho nu)iilh o( iho Klskimino- 
tas, on Iho Wostnioroland County sido, bolwoon Logan's 
Forry, Alloghony County, and Parnassus, Woslnioro- 
land County, is a bridge over Big Puokota Creek worth 
looking at, not booauso IIkm'o is anything remarkable 
about the bridge but booauso of something that hap- 
j)on(Hl lhori\ Katharine Alayo has told the story. - 

On a nooomlKn- night it was raining, raining, raining. 
**Slill the torrents desoonded, lashed by a soroaming 
wind, and the s«.)ng of rushing waters mingled with the 
cry of the gale." The oall oamo to the Slate Constab- 
ulary at Ciroensl)nrg [or Iu>][> at a foundry town on the 
Allegheny River, and a detail of troopers was sent out 
into the storm, Firsl-Sorgoant Frioe, riiling his faithful 
sIihhI, ,K)lm C, leading the way. l>oth horse and riiler 
had been on tlu> force from its organization, and the 
horse was twenty- 1 wo years old. 

l^rogross was rapid in spite of the storm, until they 
roaoluHl a portiv>n of the road near Logan's l\u-ry that 
was under twenty (cci of walor from I he on iM-tlowod 
ri\er. So there was no way to cross the ri\ <n' unless the 
party should ride to ritlsburgh and up I lie other bank. 

Hid they turn back? Members of the PcnnsyKania 
Slate Constabulary do not know how to turn back when 
iluly i-alls tluMu on. 

Sergeant Price thought of a railroail bridge. The 
bridge was fouuil. "Uul behold, its tloor was of cross- 
lies only v,>f slccjicrs to carry the rails, laid with wide 
breaks bi-twcen, gaping ilown into deep, dark space 
whose biHJ was the roaring ri\ m". " 

The leader had a plan. Two of the troopers were sent 

-" riu' Staiularil In-aivrs.'" 



THROUCill THE OIL REGIONS 

to secure two planks from a railroad yard across the 
Ijridgc. Tliey soon relumed willi two 2 x l!:i inch tini- 
hers, and with the word that no train was due until five 
o'clock in the morning. The planks were laid end to end 
across the first tics. 

"Come alo!ig, Jolm; it's all right, old man!'* the 
sergeant s])oke to his horse, al the same time caressing 
him. Tlien he led the animal to the first plank. Two 
men were detailed to walk on each side of him. 

Delicately, nervously, John G set his feet, step by 
step, till he reached the center of the second plank. 

There the sergeant talked to Iiim (juietly again, while 
two troopers picked up the board just quitted, to lay it 
in advance. 

"And so, length by length, they made the passage, 
the horse moving with extrenicst caution, shivering 
with full appreciation of the unaccustomed danger, yet 
steadied by his master's presence and by the friend 
on either side. 

"As they moved, the gale wreaked all its fury on them. 
It was growing colder now, and the rain, changed to 
sleet, stung their skins with its liny, sharp-driven blades. 
The skelclon bridge held them high sus^jcnded in the 
very heart of the storm. Once and again a sudden more 
violent gust bid fair to sweep them off their feel. Yet, 
slowly progressing, they made their i)ort unharmed." 

One by one, in the same way, the other horses were 
led over the stream. Then the troopers movetl on, did 
their work, and, responding to a hurry call from Greens- 
burg, returned through the storm by the same route, 
meeting difliculties as before. 

The story would be incomplete witliout an addi- 
tional touch. When John G was in his stable at Iast,]iis 
master, after riding eighty-six miles within twenty- 

313 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

four hours, without rest, spent three hours rubbing him 
down. Only at midnight, when there was not a damp 
hair on the animal's body, was the weary horse-lover 
free to sleep. 

Now does it seem strange that the Pennsylvania 
Mounted Constabulary is accomplishing what may seem 
to be impossibilities? 

More than one hundred and sixty years before John 
G and his master braved the storm and crossed the swol- 
len stream at the call of duty, and only a few miles be- 
low, George Washington, by night, crossed the Alle- 
gheny, then in flood, and filled with treacherous ice. He 
too, was responding to the call of duty. His sole com- 
panion was Christopher Gist. Though they had no tool 
but "one poor hatchet," together they made a raft and 
on this they embarked. Let the man who lived to 
become the Father of His Country tell the story of 
what followed : 

"Before we were half way over, we were jammed in 
the ice in such a manner that we expected every moment 
our raft to sink and ourselves to perish. I put out my 
setting pole to try to stop the raft that the ice might 
pass by, when the rapidity of the stream threw it with 
so much violence against the pole that it jerked us out 
into ten feet of water. Notwithstanding all our efforts, 
we could not get to either shore, but were obliged, as we 
were near an island, to quit our raft and make to it. The 
cold was so extremely severe that Mr. Gist had all his 
fingers and some of his toes frozen, and the water was 
shut up so hard that we found no difficulty in getting 
ofi" the island on the ice in the morning. " 

The island on which Washington and Gist sought ref- 
uge that awful night is now known as Washington Is- 
land. It is within the limits of Pittsburgh. 



ROUTE VTII 

THROUGH THE HEART OF THE BLACK 
FOREST 

A ROUND TRIP TO THE NORTH OF ALTOONA 
ABOUT 350 MILES 

Now the joys of the road are chiefly these: 
A crimson touch on the hardwood trees; 

A shadowy highway cool and brown, 
Alluring up and enticing down. 

And O the Joy that is never won, 

But follows and follows the journeying sun. 

By marsh and tide, by meadow and stream, 
A will-o'-the-wisp, a light o' dream. 

Delusion afar, delight anear. 

From morrow to morrow, from year to year, 

—Bliss Carman. 

It was a Scotch soldier in France wlio wrote home: 
"I hope when the war is over that I may be able to 
spend a month somewhere among the hills; I often think 
that if more people in the world had lived among such 
hills as vv^e have in Scotland there would have been no 
world war." 

The nature lover who sees the glory of the hills in the 
central Pennsylvania highlands will be able to sympa- 
thize with the Scotchman, for he knows well that there 
is nothing like intimate touch with hill and forest to 

315 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

bring and keep one in touch with Him who laid the foun- 
dations of the earth, who stretched forth the heavens 
Hke a curtain, who speaks from Nature's sohtudes, "Be 
still, and know that I am God. " 

Altoona is the natural starting point for a tour of the 
country of north central Pennsylvania, where, as has 
been said by one who knows the state thoroughly, "the 
scenery is easily the finest in Pennsylvania. " The best 
part of this wild region is included in the tour marked 
out in this chapter; at least that is what will be felt until 
there is intimate acquaintance with counties farther 
east like Lycoming and Sullivan. Then clamor will be 
heard that the palm should be reserved for these 
counties. The truth is, the whole region is so wonder- 
fully satisfying that it is difficult to compare counties 
and sections. 

The way from Altoona is by the beautiful Tuckahoe 
Valley to Tyrone, the picturesque Blair County town 
situated in a valley so narrow that at one point an im- 
mense flag has been hung on a cable stretched from one 
side to the other. On the left Tussey's Mountain lifts 
its head, while Bald Eagle Mountain looks down on the 
town from the right. 

Bald Eagle Valley, beyond Tyrone, affords a passage 
for both railroad and highway. The railroad turns to 
the left within a few miles, and climbs rapidly about 
one thousand feet in a dozen miles. Engineering prob- 
lems even greater than those beyond Altoona, on the 
main line of the Pennsylvania, confronted the engi- 
neers who surveyed the road this short distance. The 
greatest achievement was the building of the Mule 
Shoe Curve in Emigh's Gap, eight miles from Tyrone. 
Here the curve is far more abrupt than at Kittanning 
Point, and the scenery is much more startling. The 

316 




1 



2 = 

5 = b 
Q - i; 






a 



2C^ 



a 



THROUGH THE BLACK FOREST 

summit is crossed five miles farther on at a point where 
the view to the north reaches far iiito the watershed of 
the West Branch of the Susquehanna. 

There is a wagon road that keeps near the railroad 
across the summit, but if there is desire for a smooth 
surface and an easier trip it will be found better to keep 
on the main highway as far as Port Matilda, turning 
there on the Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike to- 
ward Philipsburg. 

Philipsburg on the Moshannon is four hundred and 
forty-five feet above Tyrone. The town was once called 
Moshannon, the name of the Indian village located on 
the site. Later, however, the name was changed in 
honor of a pioneer settler who came at a time when the 
best means of communication with the outside world 
was a footpath to Bellefonte. 

Between the Moshannon at Philipsburg and the Sus- 
quehanna at Clearfield there are numerous long-distance 
outlooks along this section of the Oil City route. From 
the heights above Clearfield a number of the bends of 
the Susquehanna are in sight — a stream so crooked that 
in the diagonal course through Clearfield County the 
distance from border to border is almost one hundred 
miles, though a straight line measures less than fifty 
miles. No wonder the Six Nations called the river Que- 
nischa-chack-ki, "the stream with long reaches." 

Clearfield, the county seat, once had a name as unu- 
sual as that of the creek, Chinklacamoose. This was the 
name of an Indian town on the site. The later title, 
Clearfield, was bestowed because here was a plateau 
where the trees were few compared with those on the 
surrounding mountains. 

Originally Clearfield was in the midst of forests of 
white pine, but lumbering operations were carried on 

317 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

so lavishly and so furiously that by 1884 these had al- 
most entirely disappeared. Then lumbering had to be 
conJBned largely to the forests of hemlock and oak. The 
town is now a center of operation for the State Depart- 
ment of Forestry. The water supply is secured from a 
watershed protected by the department; a small reve- 
nue accrues from this source. 

Bilger's Rock near Cur wens ville and Luthersburg 
Knob, two thousand feet high, near Luthersburg, are 
but two of the numberless attractions along the line of 
the highway from Clearfield to the western border of a 
county noted for its scenery. Luthersburg is in Brady 
township, named for Captain Samuel Brady, Indian 
fighter and hunter. 

Near Luthersburg, in 1830, a traveler saw on a way- 
side inn a sign displaying a bit of doggerel on which the 
pioneers and those who came after them acted all too 
literally : 

"It is God's will 

The woods must yield 
And the wildwood turn 
To a fruitful field. " 

Most of the towns and villages in the county owe their 
origin and initial prosperity to the purpose to remove 
the trees as soon as possible. In some of them the 
chief industry is still the handling of trees from the 
forests, such as they are, or some closely allied activi- 
ties like tanning. 

A little north of Luthersburg is Dubois and the great 
Beaver Meadow, 1390 feet above the sea. This is a 
plain five miles long and half a mile or more wide, where 
there is a fall of but twenty-one feet in five miles. The 
Cornplanter or Seneca Indians used to enjoy camping 
on this "geological breakdown," as it has been called 
318 



THROUGH THE BLACK FOREST 

by scientists. The place is like the bowl of a saucer, 
surrounded as it is on all sides by high hills. 

The highlands continue into Elk County. Just over 
the border, in Fox township, a great trough is formed 
by Boone's Mountain on the east and Shawmut Moun- 
tain on the west. Farther north Boot Jack, near Ridge- 
way, is 2166 feet high. The hills about the town range 
from three hundred to six hundred feet above the 
Clarion River, which sweeps past the town after a head- 
long course from the north. 

It has been claimed — and the claim seems to be 
justified — that some of the finest mountain scenery in 
the state is in the Elk Mountain region, near Johnson- 
burg. The seven miles of the road from Johnsonburg 
to Wilcox, directly on the present route, are through 
the finest part of the Elk Mountains. Here "striking 
peaks, sharp and glittering as the Matterhorn, surround 
one on all sides. " The highest point in the region is 
Jarrett Summit, 2245 feet. 

To the left, in the next township, the Big Level Ridge 
has an elevation ranging above two thousand feet. On 
the summit, in Revolutionary days, a military road was 
placed, for this was the easiest passage through a diffi- 
cult country. 

Fortunately the pioneers were not discouraged by the 
prospect of facing the privations of this mountain re- 
gion. Some came singly and some came in companies. 
At least two picturesque colonies located in this county. 
One of these came to New Flanders, near Johnsonburg. 
Although encouraged in their venture by the Belgian 
government, they soon grew weary of the situation and 
vanished one by one. To St. Mary's, east of Ridgway, 
came a second colony that persisted, some of them from 
Baltimore and some from Philadelphia. A committee 

319 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

of the Benedictines, commissioned to investigate the 
situation, preceded the company and bought twenty- 
five thousand dollars' worth of land at seventy-five cents 
an acre. On November 1, 1842, a Baltimore contingent 
set out on the journey to the chosen spot. They took 
railroad to Columbia, then canal to Freeport. From 
there the way led overland. It is interesting to read 
their list of expenses: Transport, $86.69; utensils, 
$13.46; groceries, $18.02; books, $2.75; cash, $80; mis- 
cellaneous, $14.20; or not much more than two hundred 
dollars for the fifteen persons in the group. 

When the first residents of St. Mary's were clearing 
the forests game was still plentiful. The country was 
one of the last resorts in the state of the buffalo as well 
as of the elk. In the northern part of the county, along 
the Clarion River, there are many isolated rocks and 
ledges, each of them the scene of the last stand of some 
hounded elk; it is said to have been the custom of the 
elk to seek an eminence at the last. 

While the elk have disappeared, there is still much 
game in the mountains. There are wild-cats and there 
are bears. A local sportsman who writes of a modern 
bear hunt in Elk County, began by saying: 

"Pennsylvania is the greatest bear state in the Union 
— or the world, either, for that matter, possibly ex- 
cepting Alaska, which is several times its size. People 
don't realize that, if they kill a dozen bears in Colorado 
or Wyoming in a season, it is heralded far and wide, and 
the following year a small army of Pennsylvanians and 
other big game hunters spend some thousands apiece 
out there trying to get a bear, while they might in one- 
tenth the time and with one-fifteenth the expense run 
up into Elk, or McKean, or Potter, or Cameron, or Clin- 
ton, or some other nearby Pennsylvania county, and 

320 




HKiiiUA^ HUiixii-; ACHoss i;i,K •■|(i:i;k, mcak kidi.wav 

I'liMli, by State lliulnva\- 1 )<-ip:ut iTicut 




||H\^A^ ni(ii><;i;, m:ai( \Mi.\i)\()UD 

■ t.. Ii.v Slut, l!:..-l;w:.-.- 1 )cii;u(iiiciil 



THROUGH THE BLACK FOREST 

get one of the five hundred or six hundred bears that 
are killed in Pennsylvania every year. " 

Among the valiant hunters of the old days was Ga- 
ni-o-de-uh, or Cornplanter, friend of the whites, who, 
for services rendered to Pennsylvania in the Indian 
wars, in 1790 was allowed to select six hundred and forty 
acres on the west bank of the Allegheny northeast of 
Warren in Warren County, in the northeast corner of 
the county. Here his descendants, in number about 
two hundred, live in peace and plenty. The town of 
Cornplanter is on the route between Warren and Brad- 
ford, not far from the Indian cemetery where is the 
impressive monument erected by Pennsylvania to Corn- 
planter in 1868. This notes that the chief was 108 years 
old when he died, an age reached also by Jesse Logan, 
son of Captain John Logan, who died in 1916. Edward 
Cornplanter, grandson of the Ga-ni-o-de-uh, died in 
1918. He was known among his own people as Soson- 
dowa, "great night." Cornplanter chose his land in a 
region where the Indians delighted to roam. One of 
their favorite camping grounds was near the site of 
Bradford, McKean County. On Mount Raub, above 
the old camping grounds, they were accustomed to light 
signal fires to warn friends of the approach of enemies, 
or to pass the word that friends were coming to them. 

Bradford, beautifully situated in the valley of the 
Tuna, or Tunuanguant, "big bullfrog," was a small 
village until the oil excitement of the late seventies 
brought population and prosperity. In 1883, during 
the early days of the new regime, Colonel A. K. 
McClure, of Philadelphia, wrote in the paper whose 
editor he was: 

"The houses as a rule are pitched together like a 
winter camp, with here and there a solid brick edifice 

21 321 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

to mock the makeshift structures around it. The oil ex- 
change is a beautiful building, and looks as if it were 
expected that oil gambling would continue even after 
the day of doom, regardless of the shifting of oil centers." 

The year before Colonel McClure wrote there was 
built, south of Bradford, the famous Kinzua viaduct, 
over Kinzua Creek. At the time this was spoken of as 
one of the greatest pieces of bridge engineering in the 
world. The trains passed three hundred and one feet 
above the bed of the creek on a structure 2051 feet long. 
This consisted of twenty lower spans of thirty-eight 
feet each and twenty-one intermediate spans of sixty- 
one feet each. That the viaduct might be made practica- 
ble for the heaviest trains of the day, it was rebuilt in 
1900, on the old foundations. The weight of the origi- 
nal structure was 3,105,000 pounds. The weight of the 
present structure is 0,705,000 pounds. 

An earlier engineering marvel was the Peg Leg Rail- 
road, from Bradford to Tarport. This road was given 
up long ago, but it was such a curious structure that its 
story should be told. Let this be done in the words of 
Eli Perkins, who traveled by the road: 

"The cars run astride an elevated track on a single 
rail. This rail is nailed to a single wooden stringer which 
rests on the top of piles. So evenly balanced is the 
train that, passing over a pond or crock at the rate of 
20 miles an hour, the water is hardly disturbed. The 
motive for building is economy, the price per mile being 
$3,000, and tiie price of a ten-ion locomotive $3,000. 
The locomoiive is a queer-looking thing. An Irishman 
has compared it to a gigantic })air of boots swinging 
on a clothes line. The l)oiler is without a flue, the en- 
gine without a piston, and the driver without a crank." 

On this short road ten double trips were made 
each day "and there was an accident nearly every 

322 



THROUGH THE BLACK FOREST 

trip. " The life of the monstrosity was a little over two 
years; then it was sold by the sheriff, and the rails 
were removed. 

The stiff grades mounted by railroads in McKean 
County may be iniagined from the fact that while 
Smethport, southeast of Bradford, is but 1488 feet high, 
Prospect Peak, only a little more than two miles east, 
is 2495 feet. The railroad has to climb 1007 feet in 
this distance. 

Smethport is on Potato Creek, a stream so named 
because a pioneer lost some potatoes from a canoe in 
the water. It is not strange that some citizens of the 
town wish to restore the Indian name of the stream, 
Nun-un-dah. 

The first settlers near Smethport came up Potato Creek 
in 1810, bringing their families and goods in canoes. 
They had no such roads as have since been provided in 
all directions through a country not the best for road- 
building. Perhaps the difficulties encountered by one 
road contractor would have been a good reason for call- 
ing the highway laid out in 1825 from Ceres through 
Smethport, and the southwest, the "serious road." Yet 
this was not the explanation. It was once referred to 
officially as New Series. Later others called it simply 
Series. Serious was the final step in the development 
of the name. 

Annin Township, south of Ceres Township, in which 
the Serious Road had its beginning, furnshes another 
example of curious nomenclature. A village in the 
township is called Turtle Point, because in 183G, the 
workmen discova^rcd a huge turtle buried in the mill 
race of the first saw-mill built. 

Past Turtle Point flows the Allegheny River, north- 
ward, on the way to the New York Stateline, and the 

323 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

loop is completed when the stream decides to flow back 
into Pennsylvania and on toward the Gulf of Mexico 
instead of toward the Great Lakes. 

South of Turtle Point, also on the river, is Port Alle- 
gany, once the Canoe Place of the Indians and early 
settlers. This Canoe Place is about eighty miles, in a 
direct line, northwest of the Canoe Place at Cherry Tree, 
Indiana County, near the source of the West Branch of 
the Susquehanna, where was an easy portage between 
that river and a branch of the Concmaugh. 

It will be noticed by the student of the map that the 
course of the numerous streams of Central Pennsylva- 
nia has had much to do not only with the development 
of the section, but that the bounds of the counties have 
been determined by the courses of rivers and creeks. 
Odd shapes and broken lines separating the counties 
from their surroundings may be accounted for in this 
way. On the prairies of Illinois or Iowa it is quite pos- 
sible and wise to cut the land into right-angled counties 
and townships, but not in Pennsylvania. The map of 
the state, cut on county lines, would make a splendid 
and profitable picture puzzle not merely for boys and 
girls but for those who are older. 

There is no better example of the curiously contoured 
county line that makes the state look like a craftily con- 
trived map of gerrymandered congressional districts than 
Cameron County, where the valleys of the Driftwood 
and the Sinnemahoning, as well as the mountain ridges, 
have guided those who fixed the relations of the county 
to the surrounding territory. That is, there is no better 
illustration of this interesting fact than that county of 
central Pennsylvania in which the traveler happens to 
be at the time — until he goes into the very next county. 
In this case the next county happens to be Clinton; an 

324 



THROUGH THE BLACK FOREST 

examination of its configuration is startling, while a 
study of the apparent reason for each corner and angle 
is not difficult. 

The tablelands and mountains along the creeks were 
once covered with pine and hemlock forests, but these 
liave become a part of the past. During the third quar- 
ter of the nineteenth century the timber was marketed 
in a wholesale manner that made Driftwood and Sinne- 
mahoning busy waters and that made Emporium, the 
center of activities, a stirring town. The name given to 
Emporium in those picturesque days shows the confi- 
dence of its promoters in the future and their ambition 
for the county seat. The town has always dominated 
the county, as the mountain near Emporium, with its 
2112 feet, has looked down on adjacent summits. 

The names given to some of Cameron's streams, 
townships and villages, speak eloquently of the past. 
Driftwood, Lumber, Beechwood, Grove — could names 
go farther in giving information as to the past of a 
lumber county? 

There are other names that are a denial of the face- 
tious and unfair words of one who has said of the 
county that the principal product in the past has been 
lumber, "but as that is about all gone, I would judge 
that for the next few years, at least, the principal prod- 
uct will be blackberries, black bears, and mountain 
trout." Let the name of the village. Rich Valley, near 
the headwater of Driftwood, be a part of the denial of 
such an unpleasant insinuation. Cameron County has 
a worthy future, as it has had a stirring past. 

Here, again, the Department of Foresty is taking an 
active part in preparing for the future by the produc- 
tion and growth of timber that may in days to come not 
only renew lumbering activities, to a limited extent, 

325 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

but will protect the slopes above the streams and tend to 
prevent floods, so saving the land from erosion and 
insuring water in time of drouth. The Sizerville Forest, 
north of Emporium, and the Cameron and Lushbaugh 
Forests, north of Sinnemahoning, are maintained for 
this purpose. 

There is still ample cover for game, and hunters find 
their way in numbers into the valleys of the creeks and 
to the ridges near by. Each season as they come they 
listen to old residents who tell tales handed down to them 
of departed game. One story often repeated tells of the 
coming of the elk to the Great Elk Lick in Shippen town- 
ship, above Emporium. This was the resort of so many 
elk and deer that the neighborhood was actually cleared 
of brush by their tramping. One old hunter said that he 
had seen as many as thirty elk in the lick at one time. 

About 1820 a "poem," composed by a local humorist, 
told of "A Sinnemahoning Deer Chase." The lines be- 
gin by telling of the coming of the first minister to the 
region, and the reason: 

"There is a place called Sinnemahone, 
Of which but little good is known; 
For sinning, ill must be its fame. 
Since Sin begins its very natne. 
So well indeed its fame is known. 
That people think they should begin 
To drop the useless word Mahone, 
And call the country simply Sin." 

The minister came and the people gathered in the 
log schoolhouse to hear him preach. The service began. 

" The singing o'er, the prayer was said, 
But scarcely had the text been read. 
When, panting with fatigue and fear, 
Rushed past the door a hunted deer. 

320 



THROUGH THE BLACK FOREST 

Prayer, hymn and text, was all forgot — 
And for the sermon mattered not. 
Forth dashed the dogs, not one was mute — 
Men, women, children, followed suit." 

"Tis all in vain!" the preacher groaned. But Billy 
French, the only one of the congregation left behind 
(and he only because he was suffering from rheuma- 
tism) , called out consolingly, 

" 'Tis not in vain ! . . . 

When my good hound, old Never-fail, 
Once gets his nose upon the trail. 
There is not a spikebuck anywhere 
Can get away from him, I'll swear." 

Sinnemahoning Creek tumbles through a wild region. 
Mountains from 1200 to 1400 feet high border on either 
side the narrow valley whose width, at some points only 
three thousand feet, seem small when compared with 
the heights. Many little streams enter from both sides, 
through wild ravines and rocky gorges in the moun- 
tains. The courses of the tributaries are tortuous, owing 
to jutting peaks that turn the water as it rushes down 
to the valley. 

A point of special interest along Sinnemahoning is 
Round Island, several miles east of the west border of 
Clinton County. Here is Altar Rock. This oddity, sev- 
enty feet high, is described as a spiral of rocks, standing 
on the north bank of the stream in full view of the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad tracks, and thus within view of the 
highway also. 

A few miles farther on the Sinnemahoning enters the 
West Branch. At this point it is nearly as wide as the 
larger stream. For this reason — and because the West 
Branch changes its direction at the point of junction, 
while the Sinnemahoning flows from the west — some of 

327 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

the pioneers who ascended the West Branch were puz- 
zled whether to go on to the west, or to the southwest, 
to Chinklacamoose. 

In ascending the West Branch pioneers were apt to 
pause at Renovo, whose situation in an oval-shaped 
valley, perhaps a mile and a half long, always attracts. 
Above the river on the south towers a mountain more 
than one thousand feet high, while on the north shore 
is a second mountain of little less altitude. 

To the south of Renovo lies the interesting Hopkins 
Forest, on a good road. Another fairly good road runs 
north along Drury's Run, through mountain scenery 
that should not be missed. The road leads to Cross 
Fork, but on the way is Tamarack Swamp, of which 
Henry W. Shoemaker tells a pleasing story. He says 
that the discovery, in 1850, of fragments of bones was 
made here, which resembled moose or caribou bones. 
Yet no one had known of the presence of these animals 
in Pennsylvania. However, an Indian legend came 
to the rescue. This says that the northern animals 
whose bones were found were imported by Ko-wat-go- 
chee, to satisfy his homesick bride, Me-shon-ni-ta, who 
had come from the North, and pined for the scenery 
and surroundings of her old home. Her lover husband 
grubbed out the local trees and replaced them by trees 
brought from the North — tamarack, white spruce, firs, 
and cedars. The animals from her old haunts followed, 
and she was content. 

Another Indian legend is told to account for the nam- 
ing of Young Woman's Creek, the stream that enters 
the West Branch east of Renovo. An Indian killed a 
woman prisoner here, so the story goes, and ever after- 
ward he avoided this desirable camping spot because 
he thought he saw her ghost. But the more prosaic 

328 




HKIOCII CUKKK, CLIXTOX ((•INTV 

Phofc, l)y S(;ifc Dcpaitincnt of Forestry 




O.N TllK HI.ACK MOSIIA.WON, CKNTKK COINI'i 

I'lioto l)y Stall- Di'piutiiicnt of I'orestry 



y y 



^■ M 





ox THE ROAD TO BRUSH VALLEY \ 'LRRO^^ -^ (f\ThK i I H \ FY 
Photi' l)y StatH Hinhwav Department 




PEX.V VALLEY. LOuKlSr, TOWARD BOAL.SBURG 
Photo by State Deoartment of p'orestrv 



THROUGH THE BLACK FOREST 

account given by the pioneers is that in 1779 a young 
woman, while escaping from the Indians, was drowned 
in the waters of the creek. 

The village at the mouth of the creek was once called 
Young Woman's Town, but the more descriptive name, 
North Bend, was given to it. From here to Hyner 
the river, after being kept by the mountains to the 
northeasterly course, prepares for its sudden turn 
to the southeast, taking advantage of a break in the 
mountains through which it can turn toward Chesa- 
peake Bay. 

To this glorious region near the Susquehanna a com- 
pany of sportsmen come regularly to Otzinachson Park, 
a game park of three thousand acres, surrounded by 
wire fences thirteen feet high. The park is near Haney- 
ville, five miles from Hyner. 

The Susquehanna is at its best between Hyner and 
Lock Haven. Mountains rise from eight hundred to 
fourteen hundred feet above the water; sometimes the 
bases come down to the shore, again they are farther 
away. At Ferney they come so close that the river 
seems to cut its way through them, in gaps worthy to be 
named with others better known. Near Lock Haven 
the scenery becomes less rugged, but the quiet valley 
has attractions all its own. 

Lock Haven has a well chosen site on a point between 
the West Branch and Bald Eagle Creek. The Muncy 
Hills and Bald Eagle Mountain supply variety to the 
prospect from Clinton's county seat, whose name tells of 
the locks in the canal at this point, as well as the basin 
in the river, built to supply water to the dam, and used 
for many years as a harbor for rafts. 

The land on which Lock Haven was laid out was 
owned by Jerry Church, a character who desired to cap- 

32y 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

italize the completion of the West Branch Canal. How 
he did this can be told best in his own diverting words : 

** I now undertook to divide the counties of Lycoming 
and Center, and make a new county to be called Clinton. 
I had petitions printed to that effect and sent them to 
Harrisburg . . . The people of the town of Williams- 
port, the county seat of Lycoming, and Bellefonte, the 
county seat of Center County, had to be up and doing 
something to prevent the division; and they commenced 
pouring in their remonstrances and praying aloud to the 
Legislature not to have any part of either county taken 
off, for it was nothing more than one of Jerry Church's 
Yankee notions. However, I did not despair. I still 
kept wishing every year, for three successive years, and 
attended the Legislature myself every winter. I then 
had a gentleman who had been a citizen of Lock Haven 
. . . who harped in with me. We entered into the 
division together. We had to state a great number of 
facts to the members of the Legislature, and perhaps 
something more, in order to obtain full justice. We 
continued on for nearly three years longer . . . 
and at last we received the law creating the county 
of Clinton." 

"Eagle" was the name first selected for the county. 
But Jerry Church, noting that neither this name nor 
the project was in favor, changed the name to Center. 
It was said that many voted for the bill who had been 
opposed to the plan, not realizing that they were voting 
for the same bill as before. 

When Jerry Church came to Lock Haven in 1833 the 
country back from the river was almost unbroken, and 
in 1839, when the new county was formed, there were 
few roads. But to-day there are roads everywhere, not 
only the highways provided by the state and the county, 
but the fire roads of the Department of Forestry that 
give access to the forests above and below Lock Haven 

330 



THROUGH THE BLACK FOREST 

and, incidentially, make accessible numberless points 
of great interest. 

At Lock Haven the mountains again prove too much 
for the West Branch, and it is compelled to yield its am- 
bition to keep to the southeast. Bald Eagle Mountain, 
the great barrier, is for many miles the dominating fea- 
ture of the landscape, though from different points of 
view the aspect of the rugged eminence is most varied. 

From McElhattan the mountain shows a conspicuous 
bare place on its slope, a landmark for miles. A larger 
bare place, stretching from the summit nearly to the 
base, is visible from Castanea. 

McElhattan has more than the river and the moun- 
tain to attract the traveler. There is the Indian monu- 
ment on the site of the old Indian town of Pipsisseway, 
chief of the Susquehannocks. Then there are the 
Meadow Sweet Farms, a part of the dowry of Meadow 
Sweet, the Leni Lenape bride of Pipsisseway, and 
McElhattan Gap, with Mount Jura on the east and 
Mount Logan on the west. 

The path which leads over the southeast slope of 
Mount Logan, on to Nittany Valley, was once a wolf 
path. A fit neighbor, to the west of Booneville, is the 
road of the Forestry Department which was once a good 
buffalo path, marked by tens of thousands of hoofs in 
the annual winter migration to Georgia. Those who 
know the road well say that they have found marks of 
the hoofs. 

Booneville is named for a brother of Daniel Boone, 
who stopped here to make his home when Daniel and 
his family passed through these mountains on the way 
to Kentucky. The town is some miles south of the West 
Branch, just far enough to make the land journey back 
to Lock Haven, through valleys and past mountains, 

331 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

including Flat Rock Mountain, a side trip whose mem- 
ories will abide. 

From Lock Haven the road back to Altoona is on the 
bank of Bald Eagle Creek. Within a few miles of Lock 
Haven it passes into Center County, which reluctantly 
yielded a part of its territory to make Jerry Church's 
lands valuable. 

Belief onte, in the Nittany Valley, is the city of beau- 
tiful views, as well as the city of the beautiful spring. 
Lafayette, who visited the town in 1824, was greatly 
attracted by this spring, which supplies the town 
with water. But Bellefonte is not only beautiful in 
itself; it is a center for side trips to other beautiful and 
interesting spots. 

To the northwest a trip may be taken up Moose Run 
to Snow Shoe. On the way is the "silent city" where 
are more than one thousand great ant hills. 

Snow Shoe received its name in 1775 when a party of 
hunters were halted by lack of provisions on the moun- 
tain near Moshannon Creek. On snowshoes which they 
made hastily they pushed their way thirty miles to the 
nearest settlement, In more recent years the Snow- 
shoe Company operated here, but to-day the timber is 
gone, and the settlement is deserted. 

Not far west of Snow Shoe, near Peale, is the wonder- 
ful horseshoe curve of the Black Moshannon, three 
hundred feet below the tracks of the New York Central. 
The accurate dimensions of the curve were accounted 
for by the Indians, who said it was the hoof print left 
in the water by the great steed of Chet-ta-mic-co, a hero 
of the days of the world's creation. 

State College, south of Bellefonte, is in the midst of 
so much that is superlatively beautiful that it is difficult 
to know which way to explore first. Perhaps the best 

332 



2.C 




THROUGH THE BLACK FOREST 

thing for the visitor to do is to take a look over the 
country from the tower of old College Hall, then take 
the road northeast toward the county's sharp point. 
The road leads through Boalsburg and the gateway to 
the Seven Mountains- — a gorge with Bald Top on one 
side and Tussey Knob on the other, past beautiful Co- 
burn, into Pine Valley, visited by Edgar Allan Poe in 
1838, when he sought an inheritance from the Polis, 
with whom he claimed relationship; into Pine Creek 
Hollow, near Woodward, where is a hundred acre tract 
of primeval white pine. "The great trees, rising to a 
height of nearly two hundred feet, and straight as gun 
barrels, are always sighing in the wind, and are weird 
and sad survivors of the grand forests which once cov- 
ered the central Pennsylvania uplands." ^ 

But perhaps the greatest natural wonder of this 
county of wonders is Penn's Cave, about halfway be- 
tween Pine Creek and Bellefonte, not far from Center 
Hall. This cavern was once owned by the Pohs. It 
seems strange that it is not better known, for it is in the 
midst of mountains, it has an unusual entrance, the 
passages and chambers are varied and curious, and the 
boat ride within has been said to be finer than anything 
of the sort provided by Mammoth Cave. 

It is not necessary to return to Bellefonte before mak- 
ing the trip back to Tyrone and Altoona. There is a 
lower road to State College, then through the distinc- 
tive scenery of south Center County, over the line into 
Huntingdon, and north to Warrior's Mark where, until 
a few years ago, the tree was still pointed out that was 
used by the Indians as a target. This tree gave the 
name to the town. 

All the way from Warrior's Mark to AUoona the 

^ Henry W. Shoemaker, in "Eldorado Found." 

333 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

country speaks eloquently of the most lovable Indian 
of whom Pennsylvania history has record— Captain 
John Logan, whose sad but inspiring story should be 
familiar. The son of Shikellimy, he was as different as 
could be from his older brother James, a man whose 
evil fame has tarnished the name Logan. Thachnecto- 
ris, as John Logan was called, was the friend of the set- 
tlers, and he had the confidence of the provincial 
government to such an extent that he was nominated 
by the Penns to succeed his father as vicegerent of the 
Iroquois until the council at Onondaga should elect 
its chief. This the council refused to do, because he 
had lost an eye in a fight with Indian marauders. 

For a time John Logan made his home in Logan Val- 
ley, in the heart of what is now Tyrone. Here he lived 
during the early days of the Revolution. More than 
once he helped the patriotic cause. His service as a spy 
attracted Washington's favorable notice. 

After the war he was driven off his land by a white 
settler, because he had not proved title. So he went to 
Chinklacamoose (Clearfield) . His bit of land there was 
lost in the same way, while he was absent in Ohio, plead- 
ing with his brother to give up his bad habits and be a 
friend instead of an enemy of the white people. Later, 
though the holder of the lands he had claimed at Chink- 
lacamoose urged him to live with him to the end of his 
days, he went to his son, Tod-kah-dohs, who had mar- 
ried a daughter of Cornplanter. His last days were 
spent on the Cornplanter Indian Reservation, though 
every year he made a trip to Sunbury to see the graves 
of his wife and children, and to Lewisburg, for a hunt 
with an old friend. 

Captain Logan died in 1820, in his one hundred and 
second year. For eighty years, ever since he had grown 
334 



THROUGH THE BLACK FOREST 

to manhood, he had been a friend of the white people, 
though he had been mistrusted by them many times. 
His was one of the noblest characters ever known among 
the Indians. 

His monument is the great Black Forest where he 
roamed, and the historic Logan House, at Altoona, the 
hotel built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1855, six 
years after the founding of the town in the midst of the 
almost unbroken wilderness of the mountains. It stands 
not many miles from the Kittanning Trail, the path- 
way which Logan trod many times, as he probably trod 
nearly every portion of the way through the heart of 
the Black Forest, looking in wonder at the majestic 
mountains, following with delight the crystal rivers, and 
adoring the Great Spirit who spoke to him in the heal- 
ing spring, in the tumbling cataract, in the fleecy clouds 
above his head, or in the secret places of the forest 
where he found the peace denied him by those to whom 
he gave the best he had. 

And now he calls to those who live after him to follow 
him to the same mountain-girt forests, that they, too, 
may know peace amid turmoil, and may gain new 
strength for fighting life's battles. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Along the Western Brandywine. Wilmer W. MacElree, 
West Chester, 1912. 

Bull, 01c. Sarah C. Bull. Boston, 1883. 

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, Letters of. Edited by Ernest 
Hartley Coleridge. London, 1895. 

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, Life of. Hall Caine. London, 
1887. 

Concmaugh, Valley of the. Thomas J. Chapman. Altoona, 
1865. 

Continental Congress at York, Pennsylvania. George R. 
Browcll. York, 1914. 

Down the Eastern and up the Black Brandywine. Wilmer 
W. MacElree. West Chester, 1912. 

Eldorado Found. Henry W. Shoemaker. Altoona, 1917. 

Early Footprints of Developments and Improvements in 
North West Pennsylvania. Isaac B. Brown. Harris- 
burg, 1903. 

Extempore on a Wagon. A Musical Narrative. George 
Henry Loskiel. Lancaster, 1887. 

Foresters, The: A Poem. Alexander Wilson. Norristown, 
Pa., 1818. 

Girard, Stephen, Life and Times of. McMaster. Philadel- 
phia, 1918. 

Gist, Christopher, Journal of. Edited by William W. Dar- 
lington. Pittsburgh, 1893. 

Highways and Byways of the Great Lakes. Clifton Johnson. 
New York, 1911. 

Journal of a Tour in Unsettled Parts of North America. 
Francis Baily. London, 1806. 

Justice to All: The Story of the Pennsylvania Mounted 
Police. Katherine Mayo. New York, 1917. 

Lawrence, Uncle Jonas, Historical Letters of. Elmira, N. Y., 
1886. 
336 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Lehigh Valley Railroad, Guide Book to the. Philadelphia, 
1872. 

Little Rivers, Henry van Dyke. New York, 1914. 

Logan, Captain, Blair County's Indian Chief. Henry W. 
Shoemaker. Altoona, 1915. 

Lumber Industry of Pennsylvania, History of the. Defen- 
baugh, James Eliot. Chicago, 1907. 

Maclay, Samuel, Journal of. Williamsport, 1857. 

Making of Pennsylvania, The. Sydney George Fisher. 
Philadelphia, 1896. 

National Road, The. Robert Bruce. Washington, D. C, 
1916. 

New Purchase, The. Robert Carleton. Princeton, 1916. 

New Travels in the United States of America in 1788. J. P. 
Brissot de Warville. London, 1794. 

Northwest Pennsylvania, Pioneer Outline History of. W. J. 
McKnight, M. D., Philadelphia, 1905. 

Oil Bubble, The. Samuel P. Irvin. Franklin, Pa., 1868. 

Old Time Notes of Pennsylvania. A. K. McClure. Phila- 
delphia, 1905. 

Old Tioga Point and Early Athens. Louise Welles Murry. 
Athens, Pa., 1908. 

Otzinachson. A History of the West Branch Valley of the 
Susquehannah. By I. F. Meginness. Williamsport, 
1889. 

Over the Alleghenies and across the Prairies in 1848. John 
Lewis Peyton. London, 1870. 

Pennsylvania Mountain Stories. Henry W. Shoemaker. 
Reading, 1912. 

Pennsylvania, History of the Commonwealth of, William 
H. Eglc. Philadelphia, 1883. 

Pennsylvania Railroad, The. William B. Sipes. Philadel- 
phia, 1875. 

Pen Pictures of America, Vols. 1 and 2. Joel Cook. Phila- 
delphia, 1903. 

Petrolia, or the Oil Regions of the United States. F. B. 
Wilkie. Chicago, 1865. 
22 337 



SEEING PENNSYLVANIA 

Pictorial Sketch Book of Pennsylvania. Eli Bowsen. Phila- 
delphia, 1852. 

Picturesque Pennsylvania; a series of articles by George E. 
Mapes. Philadelphia Record of 1907-8. 

Pike, the Old. Thomas A. Searight. Uniontown, Pa., 1894. 

Pithole, History of. Charles C. Lenard. Pithole City, Pa., 
1867. 

Pleasant Peregrinations through the Prettiest Parts of Penn- 
sylvania. Peregrine Prolix. Philadelphia, 1836. 

Propagation of Forest Trees. George H. Wirt. Harrisburg, 
1902. 

Progressive Pennsylvania. J. M. Swank. Philadelphia, 1908. 

Schuylkill Valley, Vignettes of the. Philadelphia, 1874. 

Standard Bearers, The. Katherine Mayo. Boston, 1918. 

St. Lawrence, The, to Virginia. Clifton Johnson. New York, 
1913. 

Susquehanna, Up the. Hile C. Pardoe. New York, 1895. 

Tales of the Bald Eagle Mountain. Henry W. Shoemaker. 
Reading, 1912. 

Travels in America, Performed in 1806. Thomas Ashe. New 
York, 1811. 

Travels in North America in 1780, 1781 and 1782. Marquis 
de Clijistellux. London, 1787. 

Travels in Some Parts of North America in the years 1804, 
1805 and 1806. Robert Sutcliffe. Philadelphia, 1812. 

Travels in the United States of America, 1793 to 1797. Wil- 
liam Priest. London, 1802. 

Travels in the Confederation. Johan David Schoepf. 
Philadelphia, 1811. 

Travels Through the Unknown Parts of America. Thomas 
Ambury. London, 1797. 

Travels through the United States of North America, 1795, 
1796, 1797. Due de la Rochefoucauld, Liancourt. Lon- 
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Weiser, Conrad, Life of. C. Z. Weiser, D.D. Reading, 1876. 

Wilderness Trail. Charles A. Hanna. New York, 1911. 



INDEX 



Adams County, 50 

Adams, John, gives name to 
Adams County, 50 

Adams, John, inspires Congress, 
48 

Adams, Samuel, inspires Con- 
gress, 48 

Airbrakes, first test of, 288 

Alden, Henry M., quoted, 303 

Allegheny Mountains, extent, IH, 
134 

Allegheny River, 73, 193, 197, 
289, 290, 296, 297, 311, 312, 323 

Allen, Horatio, tests first locomo- 
tive in United States, 242 

Allen's Valley, 60 

Allentown, 256, 266 

Altoona, 145, 316, 335 

Amberson's Valley, 60 

Ambury, Thomas, quoted, 31 

Ambuscade feared, 176 

Analomink Creek, 230 

Antes Fort, 186 

Anthracite, experiments in burn- 
ing, 215 

Antietam Creek, 52, 96 

Antrim, 192 

Ararat, Mount, 247 

"Arbustum Americanum," 82 

Arch Spring, 147 

Ariel Lake, 245 

Annstrong, Colonel, Indian 
fighter, 310 

Armstrong Countv, 309 

Asaph, 192 

Ashe, Thomas, quoted, 90, 165, 
285 

AssTUiepachIa, 148 

Asvlum, 202 

Athens, 200 

Auburn, 214 

Audubon, John James, 23, 125, 
284 

Aughwick Creek, 60, 143 

Aux Boeufs, River, 281 

Bailev, Francis, quoted, 57, 66 
Bald "Eagle Creek, 332 



Bald Eagle Mountain, 183, 316 

Baltimore, Lord, and William 
Penn, 42 

Bard, Richard, captured by In- 
dians, 51, 143 

Barns of Lancaster County, 31 

Bartram, John, 81 

Bear hunting, 320 

Bedford, 68, 145 

Bedford County, 65 

Bedford Springs, 68 

Beach Lake, 245 

Bear Creek, 225 

Bear Lake, 225 

Beaver, 273 

Beaver County, 271 

Beaver Falls, 274 

Beaver River, 272 

Beaver Springs, 171 

Bellefonte, 317, 332 

Bennett, James Gordon, 195 

Berklev, 267 

Berks County, 129, 212 

Berwick, 207 

Bethania, 31 

Bethlehem, 33, 257 

Bethlehem Steel Works, 258 

Beulah Road, 160 

Bienville, Celeron de, 2T1, 277, 
280, 291 297 

Big Crossings, 102 

Big Level Ridge, 299, 319 

Big Pucketa Creek, 312 

Birmingham, 147 

Black Forest, 315, 335 

Blaine, James G., Ill 

Blair's Gap, 154 

B lairs ville, 134, l(i3, 164 

Blockhouse Road, 190 

Bloody Run, 66 

Blooming Grove Park, 240 

Blossburg, 190, 191 

Blue Bell Tavern, Philadelpliia, 
79, 81 

Blue Hill, 177 

Blue Knob, 69 

Blue Mountains, 91, 127 

Boalsburg, 333 

339 



INDEX 



Boatcbuilding activities, 86, 111, 
269 

Boiling Springs, 93 

Boone, Daniel, 331 

Booneville, 331 

Boot Jack, 319 

Bmnidary disputes, witti Main- 
land, 35, 42, 78; with Virginia, 
116; between Huntingdon and 
Mifflin Counties, 140 

Bouquet, Colonel, 67, 71, 92, 271 

Braddee, Dr. John F., robs the 
mail, 109 

Braddock, General, grave of, 103 

Braddock's defeat, 72 

Braddock's Field, 73 

Braddock Memorial Park Asso- 
ciation, 104 

Braddock's Road, 67, 100 

Bradford, 321 

Braxiford County, 188, 247 

Brady, Captain Samuel, 290, 318 

Brady, Colonel John, 179 

Brady's Jump, 290 

Brandj^ine Creek, 28, 82 

Brandywine, Battle of, 83, 257 

Brainerd, David, at Duncans 
Island, 91, 135; at Gnaden- 
hiitten, 254 

Bridges: Wrightsville, 38; first 
cliiiin suspension, 72; camel- 
back at Harrisburg, 90; on Na- 
tional Road, 99; at Little Cross- 
ings, 101; at Big Crossings, 
102; Turkey's Nest, 107; 
Brownsville, 113; S-liridge near 
Washington, 119; Rockville, 
134; Juniata covered bridge, 
136, 166; Portage railroad, 154; 
Port Trevorton, 173; Nicholson 
Viaduct, 249; John G.'s bridge, 
312; Kinzua Viaduct, 322 

Bridgcwater, 274 

Brier Hill, 111 

Bristol, 262 

BrokenstraW Creek, 297 

Brookville, 304, 305 

Brown, John, 53, 58 

Brownsville, 110, 111, 113 

Bruce Robert, quoted, 100 

Brumbaugli, Ex-Governor, 139, 
145 

Bryant, William Cullen, quoted, 
45, 167, 172 

340 



Buchanan James, birthplace of, 

61 
Buck Hill Falls, 228 
Bucks County, 259, 265 
Buffalo, last stand of, 168-70; 

adventure with, 285. 
Buffalo Cross Roads, 170 
BufTalo Valley, 169 
Buhler, M. E., quoted, 224 
Bulkheads, invention of, 161 
Bull, Ole, and his colony, 193 
Burd, Colonel James, 175 
Burr, Aaron, 274 
BushkiU, 236, 237 
Butler, 289 

Butler, Colonel Zebulon, 224! 
Butler County, 289 

Caledonia, 52 

Callensburg, 300 

Cambria County, 155 

Cambridge Springs, 281 

Cameron County, 324, 325 

Camp Crane, Allentown, 257 

Camp Hill, 91 

Campbell's Ledge, 220 

Canal journey described, 137, 149 

Canal visions of Robert Fulton, 
88 

Canals, 38, 127, 213, 242, 251, 262, 
273, 276,311 

Canals, Washington's comprehen- 
sive plans for, 87 

C^innon and anununition for Rev- 
olution, 46, 128, 132, 264 

Canoe Camp, 190 

Canoe Place, 198, 310, 324 

Capital of the United States, 
candidates for, 33, 34, 37, 47, 49 

Carbon Count v, 219 

Carbondale, 242, 246, 249 

Carey Lake, 206 

Carleton, Robert, 63 

Carlisle, 93 

Carman, Bliss, quoted, 315 

Carnegie, Andrew, 294 

Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, 
154 

Carondowana, 210 

Carriage of George Wasliington 
daniiiged, 36 

Castleman River, 101, 159 

Catasauqua, 256 

Catawissa Creek, 209 



INDEX 



Catfish Camp, 116 
Caves, on Conodoguinet Creek, 
93; Naginey, 14i?; Arch Spring, 
147; Great Bear, 1()3; Oriole, 
185; Sweden Valley Ice Mine, 
197; Penn's, 333. 

Cement, 256 

Center County, 177, 332 

Center Hall, 333 

Center Road, 213, 216 

Ceres, 198, 323 

Chambers, Benjamin, 57 

Chambers, Reuben, courtship of, 
31 

Chambersburg, 57 

Chartiers Creek, 118 

Chastellux, Marquis de, 258, 263 

Chemung River, 201 

Chester, 21, 78 

Chestnut Ridge, 69, 71 

Chickies Rock, 40 

Chickies Valley, 41 

Cliikiswalungo, 41 

Chillisquaque Creek, 177 

Chinklacamoose, 317 

Christiana, 43, 85 

Church, Jerry, 329 

Circle Line. 16, 116 

Clarion, 300 

Clarion County, 299 

Clarion River, 300 

Clark, George Rogers, 111 

Clark's Knob, 56 

Clay, Henry, 99, 113, 119, 120, 
2*69 

Ciaysville, 119 

Clermont, Robert I^'ulton's steam- 
boat, 44 

Clearfield, 317 

Clearfield County, 299, 302, 317 

Clinton County, 324, 327, 330 

Coal, 191, 215, 217, 242, 253, 303 

Coatesville, 28, 29 

Codorus, steamboat, 44 

Coffee, introduced into Snyder 
County, 171 

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 203 

Columbia, 35, 37, 38, 320 

Columbia County, 207 

Columns from l)urned State Capi- 
tol, 90, 186 

Colonizing experiments — Galiit- 
zin, 157; Beulah Road, 160; Ole 
Bull, ]93;Asylun), 202; Samuel 



Taylor Coleridge, 203; Wyalus- 

ing, 204; Horace Greeley, 240; 

Economy, 272, 286; Harmony, 

286; New Flanders, 319; St. 

Mary's, 319 
Concord, 55 
Conemaugh, 162 
Conemaugh River, 134 
Conestoga Creek, 32, 42 
Conestoga Village, 42, 43 
Conestoga wagon descriiied, 77 
Conewago Creek, 50, 86, 297 
Confluence, 102 
Conneaut, 275 
Conneaut Lake, 275, 282, 283 
Connecticut Claim to Wyoming 

Valley, 222 
Connecticut Susquehanna Comj- 

pany, 200, 222 
Conococheague Creek, 55, 60, 98 
"Conoco jig Settlement,'' 55 
Conodoguinet Creek, 55, 60, 91 
Conoquonessing Creek, 286 
Conowingo Creek, 44 
Coolbaugh, Judge John, 236 
Cooper, Thomas, quoted, 63 
Cooperstown, 289 
Copper mine, at Gap, 30 
Cornplanter, 297, 321, 334 
Cornwall Furnace, 132 
Cornwall ore banks, 132 
Coudersport, 192, 196 
Coudersport and Jersey Shore 

turnpike, 193, 196 
Courtship, a strange, 31 
Cove Valley, 62 
Cowan's (iap, 60 
Crawford County, 275, 276, 281 
Cresap, Thomas, 36 
Cresap's War, 36 
Cresco, 228, 229 
"Crossing the Isthmus" at Erie, 

280 
Cumberland Valley, 5G 
Curwensville, 302, 318 
Cussewago Creek, 282 

Dan's Rock, 100 

Danville, 210 

Declaration of independence of 
the " fair-play men," 182 

Declaration, signers of, in Car- 
lisle, 92 

Delaware Indians, 262 

341 



INDEX 



Delawnre River, 22, 238, 229, 2^2- 
2'M., 2:iG, 237, 239, 255, 2()1, 2G5 

I^laware Walt-r Gaj), 228, 229, 
2'.J2-:M, 2;}6, 2:59 

Dclrnar, tlie .story of the name, 
192 

nciiison, Coloiul Nathan, 224 

Dial Uock, 220 

l)i;iii()ji;i, 200 

l)ina;in;iu's Crccli ;\m\ I'.ills, 237, 

2:w 

Diiiniiian's Fcriy, 237 

J)()hl)ius, Capt.iiu Danit'l, 278 

l)()iu>j;;il A'alU-y, 41 

" Don't pve iij) the shij)," 278 

Doiihliii^r (laj), 94 

Doufilu-rty, Captain John, Kit 

Donjiia.s, (u'ni-ral l';|)hraini, I OS 

Downin^town, 28 

Doviestoun, 2(13, 2(i5 

Drake, Colonel K. L., 292 

Dream, Wliy Sliikelliniy re- 

ji-retled, 170 
Driftwood Creek, 324 
Drinker, Henry, 227, 229, 245 
Dubois, 318 
Dimeannon, 135 
Dunean's Island, 91, 135 
Dundafl', 24() 
Durham, 2()4 
Durham boats. 2()4 
Duloit, Anthony, 233 

I'.a-iiesnien-, 179, 180 

I'.ariy railway journey tleserilied, 

124 
l<:arlh and Sky, 'I'lie, (pioted. ,'33 
l''ast Slroudshurj;-, 231 
I'.a.ston, 2(il 
I'.hensbnrg-, KiO 
h'.eho Lake, 237 
I'.eonomy, 272 
I'Uldystone, 80 
I'',li/.al)et blown, 8() 
Klk, 170, 320, 32() 
Elk Countr, 319 
I'Hk Aloimtains, 319 
l'',llett, l''>lizalH-lh F., quoted, 234 
Knierson, Ralph Waldo, quoted, 

131, 299 
Eiui<ih's Cap, 31 (> 
i'^miiorium, 198, 325 
l';i)hrala, 132 
J'lrie, 280 

342 



Eric, Lake, 18, 273, 278 
Lsther, Queen, 210 
l^A'erelt, ()5, (iG, 



'\-iinnount Park, Philadelphia, 
23, 24 
Fair-play men," 182 

I'airview Sununit, 222, 250 

idling Spring;, 57 

'alls Creek, 20(i 

'arinington, 102 

'ayette County, 104 

'erney, 329 

"isher, Sydney George, quoted, 
219 

'iteh, John, 23, 43, 2()G, 2G9 

'ithian, Philip, 139 

"orbes. General, 57, GO, G7, 71, 74 

"orbes Road, G7 

'orest County, 29G, 298 

'orcstry. State dej>artnient of, 
62-54,' 70, 82, 139, 184, 192, 207, 
213, 228, 238, 318, 325, 330. 

forests. Slate— Mont Alto, 52; 
Loyalsoek, 181, Bald Kagle, 
184; IMaek, 187; Blaekwell's, 
192; Chatham, 192; Ole Bull, 
19G; Wyoming, 205; Sizerville, 
32G; C-iuneron, 32G; Fishbaugh, 
32G; Hoi)kins, 328. 

^ort Allen, 254 

'ort Augusta, 175, 178, 179 

'ort Du Quesne, 33, 112, 2G8, 271 

'ort h'ranklin, 292 

'ort Freeland, 179 

'ort Granville, 140 

'orl Hamilton, 230 

"ort Ileiulriek, 171 

'ort Ligonier, 71 

'orl Ivoulhier, 92 

'ort Muney, 179 

'ort Necessity, 102 

'ort Penn, 230 

'ort Pitt, 71, 74 

"ort Shirley, 309 

'ort Stanwix, treaty of, 141, 178, 
204, 310 

'orty Fort, 223 

"ourRift, 2G2 

'ox himting, 85 

'oxburg, 300 

'ranklin, 290, 291 
ranklin, Benjamin, 33, 254 
ranklin. Colonel John, 231 



INDEX 



Franklin, William, 271 

Fraiik,sto\vn .luiiiala, li.') 

Frazier, Joiin, 71$ 

Frccinaiishurg-, 'Jdl 

French Occk, iJKl, 282, 283 

l'"ric(leiisl lilt ten, 201. 

Fries, John, 2(i6 

I''r(jlics on tlie Portaj^c. Railro.Hl, 

Fugitive slaves defended, 85 

l<"nlton (^)unty, (ii 

FiiltoM, liol>ert, 44, 88, 269, 270 

Calelon, 1<)2 

Callitzin, l.'i5 

Callitzin, Prinee, story of, 15() 

Came, wild, 85, lil, 19G, 210, 320, 

326 
(Janoga Lake, 181 
Cai), 2!) 
(lap gang, 30 
Ciaj), nickel mine at, 30 
(Japs in Kittatinny Range, 215 
(larland, Hamlin, quoted, 244 
Geology, 138, 232, 235, 251, 255, 

262, 302, 318 
Oettysbiirg, 50 
(lirard Fstate, 218 
(lirard, Stephen, 217, 218 
Gist, Christopher, 66, 101, 102, 

271, 311 
Glade road, 67 
(Jlen Onoko, 252 
Glen Summit, 250 
Glen Thoimis, 251 
Gnaderiliiitten, 254 
Gorusch, l^idward, 85 
(Josgoschunk, 296 
Gouldsljoro, 227 

" Granary of America, The," 30 
Grand View, 69 
Grav, Zane, (juoted, 241 
Great I5end, 247 
Great Cove Valley, 64 
Great Meadows, 103 
Great Swamj), 225, 226 
Great Valley, 27 
Greeley, Horace, 240, 280 
Greencastle, 95, 96 
Greensl)urg, "06 
Greenwood Furnace, 146 
Groome, Colonel John C, 307 
Gulph road, 26 
Gulph Hock, 26 



Hagerstown, 97, 98 

Hall, Ahijah, 174, 263 

Ilallcck, Fitz (jreene, quoted, 219 

Hancock, John, 36 

Hanover, 50 

Hanwny, C^astner, 85 

Harmony, 286 

Harris l-i^-rry, 90 

Harris, John, 89, 134, 143 

Harris, 'i'haddeus Mason, quoted, 
63 

Harrishurg, 89, 134 

Harrison, Benjamin, 62; Wil- 
liam Henry, Jr., 6fe{ 

Harvey Lake, 206 

Hawlcy, 210, 212 

Hazleton, 263 

Heil})rin, Anthony, quoted, 233 

Henry, I'atrick, 116 

Henry, William, 43 

Ilershey, 133 

Gllighway Department, 65, 146, 
196, 208 

Hog Island, 79 

Hollidjiy, Adam, 148 

Hollidayshurg, 146 

Hornaday, W. T., quoted, 168 

Horshcshoe Curve, 155 

Hunter's Lake, 181 

Hunting wild game, 85, 141, 196, 
240, 320, 326 

Huntingdon, 145 

Huntingdon County, 143 

Huston, A. F., 29 ' 

Hyiier, 329 

Inclined ])lane railways, 150-152, 

242, 244, 253 
Indiana County, 163, 309, 324 
Indian legends, 180, 265, 290, 328, 

332 
Indian Stej)S, the, 147 
Indians — Susquehannocks, 42; 

Conestogas, 42; Leni Lena pes, 

147, 259; Shawnees, 177; Cay- 

ugas, 204; Nanticokes, 202; 

Shawanese, 209; Six Nations, 

222; Delawares, 262. 
Indians, captured hy, 51, 92, 140; 

driven from Fort Augusta, 175; 

massacre at Forty I''ort, 223; 

sale of lands by, 28, 89, 148, 

177, 235, 259; vacation ground 

of, 17. 

343 



INDEX 



Iriviisionof Ponnsylvimia l»y (!<>iv 

rcdcmlcs. :{H, :,H, ii), ("m., !)I, 

<).', !)7 
irviii, (Jciicnil >Imiiics, lOH 
Irviiii-, Dr. VVilliuiii, J!t7 
I rvincloii, 'J!)7 
Irwin, Arcliibiild, (I.'; I ;ii/.,ili.l li, 

(>,'; .lain-, (iJ; («rm lal William, 

'.'iH 
I. If of (^ii<-, 170 

.luck's Narrows, IKt 
Jacob's Ci'ccU, 'I'J 
.larrcll Siiiiiiriil, '.{I!) 
.hll'crsoii Comily, :i(ll, :{()(i 
.h-iiiicisl(»\\ii, 70 
.IcrM y Slior.-, IH.', IHl, IH(i, l<>7 
".loliii C," liic slory oC, :U J 
.loliiiS(»iil)iii°^', '.(I!) 
.IdIiiisIowii, 150, Hi-' 
.liirdaii, IMiiiicas, ll, 'I!) 
.hinialn, !IK 
.liiiiiala l!i\('r, ['M 
.1 iiiiiiHixillc, lOi 

Karooiidiiilia, (<oi"j;-f of, i77 
Kelly, Colonel John, 170 
KiislutsJuink, J'i i 
.Kenny .lames, (inoled, 'J(>!( 
Killiicr, Joy<'e, |)Ocm on I rees, .'> I 
Kin/iia. ( 'reek, .".>'i 
K iir/.iia N'iadncI, :t? ' 
Kipliiti.';, KMd\ai(l, (pioled, ■.'7:i 
Kisliaeo(|nillas \allev, I II 
Kiskimineliis Itiv.-r, I l!», KiS, :!0'i 
Killanniii;.>:, ;tO<) 
Killannin^ I'oinl, l:>r> 
Killannin;.'; hail, l.'.f). Ml.'. :{:{:> 
Killalinny IMonnlaiiis, ,'">(>, :.':").") 
KilhdinnN I'ark, .KV.i 
Killalinuy Valley, !)l 
Kyii, .lor;iii, HO 

Lackawanna. Kivci-, '.'0(! 
I -ackawnniia N'alKy, .'.M 
I .aekawanua ( laj), J-'O 
Lackawanna Ca-ek, .•:5!l, JIO, .Ml, 

'.'(11 
Laraytllc ('olle|.^c, .'(!.• 
Lalayclle, Manpiis de, I .'0, .'.".;, 

.'(i(i, :5.'J 
Laliaska, Jti.) 
Lake l''.ri.-, l.allle of, -'7 »• 
Lancaster, :{.' :M. 

;mi 



Lanoislrr Connly, 33 

Lands purchased Ironi Indians, 
H!>, IIH, 177, 'S.ir,, Jh'A 

Laii<lscu|)c? Who ovvn.s llie, i:U 

l.apackpiclon, !JOf) 

Lh I'orle, IHl 

Lalrohe, l(i;j 

Laurel Hill, 70, lO.'i, 107 

Lawrence County, iJ7t. 

Lawniiukhannock, 'J!)7 

Lehanon, Ili'J 

l-c iUMuf, l'"<)rt, L>H1 

Legends of Indians, IHO, .'(if), :{JH, 
•AM 

Lehigh Coal and Navipal ion Com- 
pany, \lXi 

Lehijih (lap, !J51., 'J.'i.'i 

Lehi(ili IJiver, 219, 'jr,\, '>Mi 

Lehi};li I'niversily, :J(iJ 

Li-nharlsvilh', Jll 

Li-ni Lenapes, 117, 'J.'i!) 

Lewis, AIImmI, private lores! re- 
serve, 'JJ.'i 

Lewis, David, Ml, 

Lewishurf--, I 7S 

l/cwislown, ll'O 

l/cwislown Narrows, i:{!) 

Liherly liell in Allentown. '.'57 

Lipini«'r, 71 

Liiu'oln's (lettyshnrn addres.s 
ipioled, .'>l 

I .incoln I lighwav, ,.'..' 

I.ilit/.. I'M 

Little Crossin};s, 101 

Little Juniala Kiver, \M 

Little Keith- Creek, l!)|. 

Little Mahonini;- Cn>ek, :10«) 

l.ilth- Schuylkill Kiver. .'IM 

Lit IK- VValer Cap, JUJ 

l.ixiiigston. Chancellor, .'70 

Lock llavi'U, li);{. I!)r>. :{.'<), WM 

I .odorc. Lake, L'i.'i 

Lo;.'' boom, the W illiaiusporl, IS:{ 

Lo-au, Chief, II.', I7(i, Ml, WM 

l.of;an llous*', Altoona, '.lll.'i 

Lofiim, .lames, SO, Mil 

I .ofistown, ;J7I 

Lon;^- I louse of th<' Six Nalitnis, 
'.'00 

I .ookoul Mouulain, .'.'I 

Lord I o, l.')7 

Loskiel, {leor(;e lU-niy, (|note<l, 
(15, '.'01. 

London, l'\>rl, ,^i> 



I N 1) K X 

l.oyjiUmnnn Cnvk. 7(). 7.', Ui:i IMiUliii. Lloyd, tribute to Uobcrt 
l.i'yjilsovk Civok, ISl l'iilK)ii. l"|. 

l.iiinlu riiio-, IS;5, ISS. :J()(i. .'!)7, SO.'), RlilUiiitowu. KW 

:iis. s;r> Miiiorii. .'ss 

l.utlu rslmrg. :US IMiUc-rslowii, I'Mi 

I-11Z4T1U- i'ouuty. -.M!) Milton, 175) 

Lyromiiig- C'ouiity. 1 ;S, 1^8 Milloii. .lolin. .luolcii, :\! 

Lycoming Crcilv, IbJ Minr Hill..'!) 

Mincsink, bnttU- of, ■.'!() 

RU-Clurc-. i\.lo.ul A. U., quot.-.i. M';''-;'"'^ OVk.wa.v Watrr c;..,.-). 

AUro,uullsl..ni;-. (i.> IVliu.u-t.mk.v. JO!) 

iAK-i:il,nilon. IS<i. S:U J ""> M'-'Ji""'^'--. '-^^^^ 

AU-i:il,aU..»nC;;.i.. SSI Mourn-.... ■. <.' 

]Mi-i:ir<v. W. W .. SS R o.u.up.lKl.n Iv.vor, ,S 

MoK.au i'o.iulv. !!>;. -•!)!». SJl. SJS '}"";"': ,^. "".'.''V- '"^ 

l\h.oui,vs. MollV, -'IS ^"" Alio I ,nk. ...' 

Mai.aulmmo C'.Vrk. I(i; Montour. V.ui.vw. .'!0 

M..iu.UM,-\-.vrk, SlXi Mou ..ni- i ouuty, JO!) 

Mnl.onin- Klvrr, .'7 1 Mon our, Mml.uuo. 210 

IMauluiui, IS-' Mou .M.r Kuior. I ;(.- 

"Mmuu- or Musk." tlu-, M Montroso. .IS 

Map o( IVnusvlvaui... 1.^ ^ ^'^''T' .^".f'^';'* ''"' ' ''"' 

Map, rrlicf, oV I'ouusylvauu.. 17 ^^""''^ Im.I1s'..1 

Maplr su-ar rxporiuu-ut. why a ^ ""^''" \''.'",';.'-'""'^- '■'''• 

1'.'iiluri-,"'.'ir> " iMi»raly. W illi.iui, "liiul. 

Maps, srliool Ic.'U'luu!', \\illu)ut, l.» . .' . 

Miuvus Hook. St) • Moravuu.s, -.'Ot, -.T.l, .V.S 

Mariiuvillo, ■.'!);) 

Mariitta. M, I.. ,, .... 

Markc-liu- rxporuMurs of tlu- ^l;;'•^s. lu.l.rrt, IS!). •.'().'. 

piouirr, U,>, 1!»;. SO.' »,"^ • „„ 

Marshall, K.Kvard, .'.iO ^ '"■.'•'•"• > Ihh'«ms, .'OO 

Marshall. Ihuupluvv, botanist, SI ^ "^^l"""""" ^ 'v*!^. l^<«. ;»:«: 

Marsball-s l^dls. -((i ^ ^'"" ;'■'••""' ':«•■'' 

Marsballlou, SI ^ *•"" •;;"'>'. -'I -^ 

M irvil 11 •'(! ' Mount riH-ouo, O.'S, JS.* 

Mason 'auii nixou's Line, !)<;. !); J';"""/;"'"''' ^ '-;. . ,,. ,. , 

Maud, c'lu.uk. -51, j.v.', .'.vi. .'(ii J "I'l''';' »'"'',7"- '"'' ^ *"'- :!<'^ :'' - 

Mayo, Kallu-rinc, quulcd. SOS. Slv> ^''^',';|'"">'«'^'. Hcury MoUluor, I .'5. 

Max.'itawnv, .'(>( m.,:.. ■ i i~. 

., , J , .,,,, Muir, John. I , I 

Mo.'ulow .Sw.Hl, S.U Muncv 17') 

Moailvillr, .\SI, ,'.SJ IMuiuv'crr'.k. ISI 

Mi-iha, SO, SI 

MtMrrr. .'.S5 ,.^ ,,, Nanlifokr. .'OT 

Mrrcvr ( ouuly. ':,r>, -.'M Nalio.w.l Hoa.l, 7S, IIP 

M.r.or. (uMUM-al llu,!;h. (11 Navigation of Ohio Kivcr, 209, 

Mcrcorsl)ur!r. <>l .>7() 

Mfrt\Msbur';'s Ihrcf roprfsonta- ]\„y .\i|i> Williy v'l!) 

lives in the While 1 louse, (iJ Na/.anlli, .',")•) 

Meshopjun (.'reek. .'IS N(>uifieoiin, 111 

Mi.ldi.i.urf;-, 171 Nenuu-olin'.s Lath, r,2 

Mitlillelown, S7 Neseopeek Mouutnin, !J19 

34i) 



MoruKUKs in l''ranklin 
!l.'> 



( 


!» 
piolt 


•'1, 


I 


ouu 


ty. 


'1 


7, •.' 


l(i. 



INDEX 



Neshaminy Creek, 260 

Neshannock Falls, ^75 

Neversink Mountain, 212 

New Berlin, 172 

New Brighton, 274 

New Castle, 274 

New Hope, 265 

ISew Orleans, the first steamer 

on the Ohio River, 270 
New Wilmington, 275 
Nicholson viaduct, 205 
Nit-a-nee, 142 
Nittany Mountain, 142 
Nittany V;illey, 331 
Noailles, due de, 202 
Nockainixon Rocks, 265 
Norristown, 26 
North Bend, 329 
Northampton County, 255 
Northbrook, 81 
Northumberland County, 174 

Octoraro Creek, 43, 85 

Oil, 196, 19H, 292, 293 

Oil City, 294 

Oil City route, 301, 317 

Oil Creek, 292 

Ohio Country, prophecy concern- 
ing, 37 

Old State Road to Erie, 301 

Onojutta, 145 

Onoko Falls, 252 

Ontelaunee Creek, 214 

Oj)positi<m to turnpike, 106; to 
railroads, 106. 

Orwigshurg, 216 

Otzinachson Park, 399 

Outlook, David Lewis's, 69 

Packer, Asa, 262 

Palisades of the Delaware, 265 

Panhandle of West V^irginia, 17, 

118 
Pantisocracy, 903 
Pardee, Arlo, 262 
Parkman, Francis, quoted, 7S 
Path Valley, 55 
Peach Bottom, 46 
Pechoquealin, 236, 264 
Pedro, Dom, 311 
Peg Ix-g Railroad, 3-22 
Penn, John, 43, 89, 260 
Penn, Thomas, 126, 127, 260 

346 



Penn, William: Statue of, 22; 
confidence of Indians in, 28; 
in Gi.p, 30; and Lord Balti- 
more, 42; and Maryland 
boundary, 78; leases Susque- 
hanna Country, 89; at Reading, 
126; buys real estate, 148; 
methods of land purchase, 259, 
260 

Pennamite War, 223 

Penn, Mount, 127 

Pennsylvania, Map of, 15 

Pennsylvania Canal, 148 

Pennsylvania Furnace, 147 

Pennypacker, Governor, 307 

Pequea Creek, 29, 46 

Perkiomen Creek, 23 

Perkins, James H., 183 

Perry, Commodore Oliver Haz- 
ard, builds fleet at Presque 
Isle, 278 

Perry County, 136 

Petroleum Center, oil boom, 
town, 295 

Philadelphia, 22 

Philipsburg, 317 

Pickering, Colonel Timothy, 200 

Picture Rocks, 179 

Pike County, 228, 237, 238, 239 

Pilgrimage of the Moravians, 204 

Pinchot, GifTord, 238 

Pine Creek, 182, 187, 197 

Pipsisseway, 148, 331 

Pithole City, oil boom town, 295 

Pitt, Fort, 52, 269 

Pittsburgh, 74-76, 123, 287 

Pittston, 220, 247 

Pocono Mountains, 223, 260 

Pocono Plateau, 225, 229 

Poe, Edgar Allan, 142, 333 

Port Allegany, 197, 198, 234 

Port Carbon," 213 

Port Clinton, 215 

Port Matilda, 317 

Port Trevorton, 173 

Portage Railway, 148 

Porter. Col. Arthur, quoted, 279 

Post, Christian Frederick, 271 

Potter County, 192, 196 

Pottstown, 126 

Pottsville, 215, 216 

Powder train route to Lake Erie, 
281 

Presque Isle, 273, 277, 278 



INDEX 



Priestley, Dr. Joseph, 176 

Prisoners, escape of, from Lan- 
caster, 33 

Proctor, Colonel Thomas, 208 

Prolix, Peregrine, describes canal 
journey, 149 

Prophecy of Philip Fithian, 139; 
of Adam Holliday, 148. 

Prospect Hill, 198 

Prospect Rock, 221 

Prospectus, an early promoter's, 
30 

Punxsutawney, 306 

Putnam, General Rufus, 66, 111 

Pymatuning Swamp, 277 

Quaker Valley, 69 

Quakers, why they favor the 

Poconos, 230 
Quick, Thomas, Indian fighter, 239 

Railroad journey, early, de- 
scribed, 38 

Railroads: PhJladelphia to Co- 
lumbia, 38; Huntingdon and 
Broad Top, 69, 145; Wilming- 
ton and Northern, 83; "Tape- 
worm," 97; Mont Alto, 97; 
Waynesburg to Washington, 
121; Reading to Pottsville, 
128; Pennsylvania, 134, 265, 
316; Portage, 150; Baltimore 
and Ohio, ICO; Lykens Valley, 
167; Middle Creek Valley, 173 
Trevorton and Susquehanna, 
173; Pine Creek and Jersey 
Shore, 187; Wellsboro to An- 
trun, 192; Sunbury and Erie, 
194; Delaware, Lackawanna 
and Western, 205, 229; Cata- 
wissa, 209; Danville to Potts-- 
ville, 218; Erie, 229, 244, 247; 
Delaware and Col)b's Gap, 220, 
230; Delaware Valley, 239; 
Honesdale and Carbondale, 
242; Scranton to Hawley, 244; 
Lehigh Valley, 248, 250; At- 
lantic and Great Western, 283; 
Panhandle, 287; Peg Leg, 322; 
New York Central, 332. 

Railroads, humorous descriptions 
of, S3, 122 

Rapp, George, 286 

Raub, Mount, 321 



Rauchtown, 185 

Ray's Hill, 64 

Raystown Juniata, 66, 140, 145 

Read, Thomas Buchanan, 29 

Reading, 83, 126, 212, 267, 306 

Rebellion of John Fries, 266 

Red Bank Creek, 305 

Redstone Old Fort, 111, 112, 113 

Reed, James, 142 

Reedsville, 141 

Reno, oil town, 293 

Renovo, 328 

Repplier, Agnes, 18 

Rhys, Morgan John, 160 

Richmond Furnace, 60 

Ridge Road, 216 

" Road, the Great," from Sun- 
bury to Reading, 176 

Rochefoucauld - Liancourt, Due 
de la, 208 

Rockville Gap, 134 

Rokeby Furnace, 29 

Rose, Robert H., 248 

Rose Tree Hunt, 85 

Roosevelt, Nicholas J., 270 

Roosevelt, Theodore, 238, 307 

Ross, George, 92 

Rouse, Henry R., legacy of, 298 

Roy all, Mrs. Annie, quoted, 90 

" Runaway, the great," 178 

Rush, Benjainin, 160 

Ruskin, John, quoted, 23 

Saegerstown, 282 

Safe Harl)or, 46 

St. Clair, General Arthur, 71 

St. John's Rock, 100 

St. Mary's, 319 

Salt wells, 71, 115, 164, 285, 311 

Sandy Lick, 306 

Sung Hollow, 163 

Scenery Hill, 114 

Schaefferstown, 131 

Schellsburg, 69 

Shoepf, Johan, quoted, 64, 226, 

258 
School teaching without maps, 15 
Schooley's Gap, 221 
Schuylkill County, 213 
Schuylkill Gap, 215 
Schuylkill Haven, 213, 215 
Scluiylkill River, 23, 267 
Scotland, 95 
Scranton, 206, 239, 249 

347 



INDEX 



Searight, Thomas B., 110 

Seitz, Don C, quoted, 54 

Selin, Anthony, 170 

Selinsgrove, l(i9, 170 

Seneca Indians, 318 

Seneca Oil, 292 

" Serious road," 323 

Shackamaxon, 175 

Shade Gap, 143 

Shades of Death, 225 

Shaniokin (Sunburj^), 53 

Sharuiopin Town, 67 

Sharon, 275 

Sharp Mountain, 252 

Shenango River, 270 

" Shunpike," the, 281 

Shawnee-on-Delaware, 225, 236 

Shcshequin trail, 188, 190 

Sheshequin, Vale of, 202 

Shickshinny, 207 

Shikellhnv, 142, 170, 17C, 177 

Shipyards, 22, 23, 79 

Shippensburg, 61, 92 

Shippensville, 304 

Shoemaker, Colonel, 215 

Shoemaker, Henry W., 147, 168, 

328 
Shohola Creek, 240, 241 
Shohola Falls, 240 
Sideling Hill, 64, 99, 145 
Sigourney, L y d i a Huntley, 

quoted, 220 
Silliman, Professor, geologist, 255 
Sinking Creek, 147 
Sinnemahoning Creek, 193, 324, 

327 
" Sinnamahoning Deer Chase," 

326 
Six Nations, 175, 262, 279, 317 
Slatington, 256 
Smethport, 198, 323 
Smith, James, road adventures 

of, 67 
Smith, Joseph, 286 
Smith, Thomas, 92 
Smith, Dr. William, 142 
Snyder County, 170 
Snyder, Simon, 171 
Snow Shoe, 332 
Somerset County, 70 
Song that reunited mother and 

daughter, 93 
Sosondowa, 321 
South Fork dara, 162 

34 S 



South Mountain, 29, 51 
South Mountain Hospital, 129 
Spanish Hill, 199 
Sparks, Jared, quoted, 101 
Spaulding, Bishop, quoted, 274 
Stage coach tales, 105, 107 
Stage driver, invitation of, 263 
Standing Stone: Huntingdon, 

145; on the North Branch, 202 
Starucca Creek, 247 
State College, 332 
Steam canal boat, first, 164 
Steamboats, first, 43, 44, 112, 270, 

310 
Stevens, Thaddeus, 52, 97 
Stoddartsville, 225 
Stogies, origin of, 119 
Stourbridge Lion, 242 
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 195 
Stoyestown, 70 
Strasburg, 31, 46 
'Stratagem, fort captured by In- 
dian, 291 
Straw paper, first made at Mead- 

ville, 282 
Stroud, Colonel Jacob, 230 
Stroudsburg, 222, 223, 230, 231 
Sugar maple trees, avenue of, 

236 
Sullivan County, 180 
Sullivan, General, 87, 202, 225 
(Sullivan's Trail, 229 
Sunbury, 175, 176, 334 
Susquehanna and Waterford 

turnpike, 301, 317 
Susquehanna County, 246 
Susquehanna Gap, 133 
Susquehanna River, 133, 167, 201, 

247, 329 
Susquehannoeks, 121, 147 
Sutclitfe, Robert, quoted, 37 
Swatara Creek, 87, 176 
Swatara Gap, 133 
Swiftwater Creek, 228 

Tamanend, Story of, 266 
Tamaqua, 219 
Tamarack Swamp, 328 
Tanacharison, Chief, 271 
Taracliawagon (Conrad Weiser), 

131, 170 
Tarascon, Louis Anastasius, and 

navigation of Ohio River, 269 



INDEX 



Taverns of turnpike days, 104, 
109, 110, 111, 119 

Taylor, Bayard, quoted, 46, 82, 
126; Mrs. Bayard Taylor, 
quoted, 84 

Teedyuscung, 231, 263 

Telegraph, primitive, 35 

Thachnectoris, 334 

Thanksgiving proclamation, first, 
48 

Thomson, Alexander, letter of, 95 

Thomson, Charles, quoted, 235 

Three Mountain Road, 94 

Tiadaghton Creek, 187 

Timrod, Henry, quoted, 250 

IMnicum Island, 79 

Tivoli, 180 

Tioga Countv, 188 

Tioga Point,' 189, 190 

Tioga Valley, 188 

Tionesta, 296 

Tionesta Creek, 297, '298 

Titusville, 292 

Toll house at Addison, 102 

Towanda, 202 

Transportation, progress in, 124 

"Treatise on the Improvement 
of Canal Navigation," Ful- 
ton's, 88 

Trees at Braddock's grave, 103 

Triangle, story of tJie, 16, 279 

Troxclville, 169 

Tucquan Lake, 46 

Tuckahoe Vallev, 316 

Tulpehocken, 130 

Tulpehocken Creek, 127 

Tunnels, earlv, 155, 161, 214 

Tunkhannock* 205, 248, 249 

Turkey Foot, 67 

Turtle Creek, 72 

Tuscarawas Trail, 272 

Tuscarora Creek, 55, 138 

Tuscarora Gap, 136 

Tuscarora Mountains, 55, 57, 64 

Tuscarora Summit, 63, 64 

Tussev Mountain, 147 

Tyrone, 316, 334 

Underground railway adven- 
tures, 85, 86 
Union Countv, 168 
Uniontovvn, 104, 108 
ITpIand, 80 
l^pper Strasburg, 56 



Valley Forge, 23, 26, 27 

Van Dyke, Henry, quoted, 211, 

227 
Van Horn, Cornelius, 283 
Venango County, 290, 293 
^'enango, Fort, 281 

Walking Purchase, the, 234, 259, 
265 

Wallace, John, 96 

Wallenpaupack Creek, 228, 229, 
239, 240 

WaJlpack Bend, 237 

M'apwallopen, 307, 250 

Warren, 298 

Warren County, 297, 321 

Warrior's Gap, 66, 67, 99 

Warrior's Mark, 333 

Warville, J. P. Brissot dc, 
quoted, 43 

Washington, 114 

Washington and Jefferson Col- 
lege, 115 

Washington Borough, 42 

AVashington Island, 314 

AVashington, George: in Mont- 
gomery County, 23; damage to 
carriage of, 36; at Ligonier, 
71; with Braddock, 73; on the 
Chester road, 78; plans for 
canals, 87; on the " great road,"" 
91; at Carlisle, 92; adven- 
tures on Youghiogheny, 101; 
at Great Meadows, 102; on 
Laurel Ridge, 107; at Browns- 
ville, 111; owner of land at 
Washington, 115; lands in 
Washington County, 118; on 
Neshaminy, 266; at Logstown, 
271 ; in Beaver County, 273; on 
French Creek, 281 ; at Frank- 
lin, 291 ; in the AIIeghpnies,314; 
uses Logan as a spy, 334, 

Washington Springs, 107 

Water Gap, 263 

Water Street, 147 

Waterford, 281 

AVaugh-wau-wame, 219 

Wayne County, 237, 239, 244, 245 

Wavne, General Anthony, 96, 121, 
278 

Waynesboro, 96, 97 

Waynesburg, 120 

Weikcrt, 169 

31!) 



INDEX 



Weiser, Conrad, 130, 143, 170, 210, 

271 
Weissport, 254 
Wellsboro, 192 
Welsh Mountains, 28 
Wemersville, 130 
West Alexander, 119 
West Chester, 28, 180 
Westinghonse, George, 287 
Westmoreland, 223 
Westmoreland County, 70 
Western Pennsylvania boundary 

dispute with Virginia, 117 
Western Pennsylvania lands of 
George Washington, 103, 118, 
123 
Westsylvanla, petition for or- 
ganization of province of, 117 
Weygadt Mountain, 262, 263 
Whiskey Insurrection, 63, 73, 91, 

92, li2 
Whitehall, 256 
White Haven Junction, 257 
Whittier, John G., quoted, 86 
Wiconisco Creek, 168 
Wilkes-Barre, 206, 219, 249 
Wilkes-Barre Mountain, 221 
William Penn Highway, 124 
Williams, Charles, 189 
Williamson Road, story of the, 

189 
Williamsport, 179, 183, 188 
Willis, N. P., quoted, 137, 201, 238 
Wills Creek, 100 



Wills Mountain, 99 
Wilmot, David 202 
Wilson, Alexander, quoted, 133, 

200, 235, 264 
Wilson, James, 92 
Wind Gap, 225, 234, 259, 260, 263 
Winola, Lake, 206, 249 
Wissahickon Creek, 25 
Womelsdorf, 130 
Wright, Samuel, 35 
Wright's Ferry, 35, 37 
Wrightstown, 260 
Wrightsville, 35 
Wyalusing, 204 
Wyoming, 201, 224, 306 
Wyoming County, 205 
Wyoming Massacre, 1T6 
Wyoming Path, 225 
Wyoming Valley, 140, 206, 219, 

222, 223, 230, 250 
Wysox Valley, 202 

Yellow Breeches Creek, 91 

York, 33, 49 

York County, 47 

" York," railway locomotive of 

1831, 49 
Youghiogheny River, 72, 102 
Young Woman's Creek, 328 

Zeisberger David, 274, 296, 297, 

306 
Zelienople, 286 



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